


Dead Garden

by Aaron Nowack (anowack)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Gen, Sakuracentric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-15
Updated: 2012-11-13
Packaged: 2017-11-10 01:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 99,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/460651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anowack/pseuds/Aaron%20Nowack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fourth Hokage left a behind a legacy, a cruel burden that would change the fate of a world. It should have gone to a hero, a champion who could mend the broken and save the hopeless. Instead it fell on Haruno Sakura. Good thing she'll have some help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rules

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case… oh, forget it.

* * *

On the eighteenth page of the cute pink notebook her father bought her to celebrate her admission to the Hidden Leaf's ninja academy, Haruno Sakura kept a short list of the most important rules she learned in her time there. After she passed her first cryptography class, she erased it and rewrote it in a simple cipher she devised herself - she hoped more than enough to keep it safe from the prying eyes of her classmates. By the time she graduated, there were only five entries on the list.

The first lesson Sakura marked in her notebook was one she started to learn on the first day of classes in her first year: "Never draw attention to yourself." That lesson was learned in public humiliation, the first and last time she dared to answer a question not specifically asked of her. The weeks before she started attending classes, she pored over the textbooks her father had bought, reading them over and over until she felt she had almost memorized them.

When a teacher seeking to impress the new students with how much they had to learn asked a question about the basic principles behind explosive seals, Sakura raised her hand and answered without being called on. That lead to a stern warning not to speak without permission, followed by an intense interrogation on sealing techniques that quickly left the contents of the first year textbooks behind and left Sakura in tears. It took only a few similar incidents over the next weeks to secure that lesson as one she would never forget.

That was why, on the day of the final graduation exam, Sakura slipped into her classroom a few minutes before class was to start and took the empty seat in the back near the door, next to Nara Shikamaru. Before the first class of the year, he'd moved away once she was seated, but the next day he had apparently decided sitting next to her was less of a pain than sitting closer to the teachers. So long as she didn't bother him, he didn't bother her, and he'd even shared his rather thin notes without being asked when she'd missed class on the tenth of October. That made him the closest thing she had to a friend in her class.

Sakura gave a longing glance several rows toward the front of the classroom, where the two rivals for the title of top kunoichi - Ino and Ami - were feuding over who would take the prized seat next to Uchiha Sasuke. The object of their attentions kept up his facade of stoic indifference, but Sakura imagined that underneath that was a boiling cauldron of passion, just waiting for the right woman to unlock it. A slight smile worked its way onto her face as she studied him from afar. Another page in her notebook had once been dedicated to him, but after a close call the horror of Ami or Ino discovering that had forced her to destroy that page. Those fantasies were best kept inside her head. And maybe once they graduated, if they were placed on the same team… if she could just talk to him without braving the gauntlet of the other girls… maybe, maybe then they could exist in reality.

Her face hardened as the classroom door open and a very different boy raced through the door and down to his customary seat on the first row. He was the subject of the second rule on her list, one that had been a direct order from her father. She was an obedient child by nature, and her father rarely raised his voice to her. When he had told her to never have anything to do with Uzumaki Naruto was one of those few times.

The incident occurred the second week of classes in her first year. Naruto - at that point she had only known him as the loud blond kid who always sat in the front - came up to her when she'd been been eating her lunch alone, dragging behind him a silver-eyed girl that Sakura hadn't even noticed was in their class. They talked for a little bit, although the other girl - Hinata - stayed mostly silent.

Now, almost four years later, Sakura didn't remember what the conversation had involved. She remembered being excited about making her first friends, thrilled that maybe the outcast status she'd gained after her humiliating experience on the first day was lifting. Naruto had been even more excited the next day, when he rushed over to her before classes began, words tripping over themselves as he said that his mother wanted him to invite her over after classes. Why this so enthused him, Sakura still didn't know.

Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she'd just gone with him, but she was better trained than that. She promised to ask her father for permission to go the next afternoon. His reaction had been unexpected, and she could remember his words as clearly as if he was saying them today.

"Absolutely not," her father had told her. "That… that boy and his mother, are the reason your mother is dead. What the Uzumaki have done to us, done to you, can never be forgiven!"

"Why?" Sakura asked, tears in her eyes. "What did they do?"

"I can't tell you," her father said, his voice turning gentle. "You don't need that burden yet, or ever." Then he gave her the order that became Sakura's second rule.

She obeyed of course, doing her best to ignore the boy's questions over the next few days. When Hinata asked Sakura why she was ignoring Naruto - the first time and the last time the other girl started a conversation with Sakura on her own - she explained her father's command.

The next week, Sakura was moved to another class section. She wouldn't have classes with Naruto again until her final year in the academy, when only one section was left. She was in the same class as Hinata again the next year, but her one effort to talk with the other girl was coldly and firmly rebuffed. So long as Sakura wouldn't speak with Naruto, Hinata had explained, she wouldn't have anything to do with Sakura.

The next two rules on Sakura's short list came from October 10th of that year. The year before, she had been sick with the flu on that date. During her second year, her father was away on a mission - one of the first times in her young memory that he was gone for multiple days. He had been supposed to return the day before, but was delayed.

While her father was gone, a teacher for one of the older classes who lived nearby walked her to school instead. Sakura realized this was unusual. On that day, while they were heading to attend the half-day of classes prior to festival celebrating the Fourth Hokage's final victory, she asked the silver-haired man why he was doing that for her. He smiled - actually smiled - at her, and explained that he had been her father's teammate as a genin. That was enough to put an unfamiliar bounce in Sakura's step.

That vanished when they reached the academy and found a large group of adults arguing with another teacher. "What's the issue, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura's escort asked as they drew near.

The scarred teacher gave Sakura a look she still couldn't interpret, even though it remained clear in her memories. "These… men and women, have a complaint for the teaching staff, Mizuki-sensei. Send her inside and we'll discuss it."

Before he could answer, though, one of the women spoke. "Even if our request is rejected, today of all days our children shouldn't have to be with her. It's abhorrent for her to be part of this day."

"Sakura-chan is a student of the Leaf's ninja academy," Mizuki said firmly. "You have no right to deny her that."

"Look," one of the men said. "There's an easy way to solve this." Sakura hadn't yet known to call what she felt killing intent. She fell to her knees, paralyzed in terror. "If the girl's in the hospital, she can't attend classes."

There was a blur of motion, and then Mizuki was in front her, catching a kunai strike in his bare hand. She remembered the blood dripping from his palm, fascinating her so much that she barely recalled the other adults wrestling the attacker to the ground, or the scarred teacher angrily ordering someone to fetch ANBU.

Later, in the academy infirmary, as she'd watched Mizuki bandage his hand, she tearfully asked, "Why?" Why had those parents hated her so? Why had this teacher who she didn't know let himself be hurt to save her?

He smiled again, and answered her second unspoken question. She remembered the words perfectly. "Takeru is my precious comrade, and you are his precious daughter. That makes you precious to me, also. This," he said, gesturing at his injured palm, "is nothing, if it means protecting my precious people. For my precious people, I would do anything." His smiled faded slightly. "Anything at all. That's my way of the ninja."

Then he reached out and ruffled her hair fondly. "I hear you aren't doing very well in your classes this year, Sakura-chan. I want you to study hard and do better, so in a couple years you can be my most wonderful student. All right?"

An hour later, her father returned and pulled her from class. That evening, Sakura added two more rules to her list. The third rule came from her father again, that she was never to leave home on October 10th. The fourth was her own rule, that she would always protect her precious people as best she could, even if there were only two people she could call precious in the world.

The fifth rule on her list, she would not add until this evening, after she discovered the truth about herself.

  


* * *

  


Sakura quietly got up and went into the next classroom when Mizuki called her name. There was none of the warmth he showed in private in his voice, but there never was. Sakura was used to that, and had actually been a little grateful once she'd gotten over her initial disappointment in the first classes of the year. A teacher being overly familiar with her would only draw attention.

She glanced once at the rows of forehead protectors on the desk before turning her attention to the two teachers sitting behind it. She knew what the test was, of course, but she still waited to be told what to do.

"The Replication Technique," Iruka said. "Please perform it."

Sakura nodded, her hands precisely forming the correct seal, drawing deeply on her chakra. "Replication Technique," she breathed, the words helping to focus her power. An instant later, a copy of herself appeared standing next to her, hands forming the same seal.

Mizuki smiled gently at her. "Well done, Sakura-chan." Sakura's heart leapt at the praise.

Iruka grunted. "All the other students have been able to make at least three," he said sourly. "And she's forgetting to make the replication look like it is breathing."

Sakura could feel herself wilt as she stared at her feet. Had she come this far only to fail now?

"Those aren't the conditions for a passing grade, and you know that, Iruka-sensei," Mizuki returned. "Sakura-chan has already passed the tests for the Transformation Technique and the Replacement Technique, and her academic scores have always been excellent. Even with a minimum passing grade for this test, she shouldn't be failed."

"Her chakra control is mediocre at best," Iruka returned, "and she has only average stamina to make up for it. Her scores in taijutsu are only barely passing." Sakura wanted to sink into the floor and vanish. "We aren't here to build self-esteem or churn out mediocre kunai fodder, Mizuki-sensei. We need to make sure our students are ready to be genin of the Leaf."

"Our job is to ensure they meet the standards set by Hokage-sama, Iruka-sensei," Mizuki said. "Beyond that it is the responsibility of their jounin squad leaders."

Iruka shook his head. "We shouldn't be arguing like this in front of a student."

Mizuki smiled at Sakura, reaching for one of the forehead protectors. "But she isn't our student anymore, is she?"

Iruka sighed. "I suppose you are right," he said, and then he nodded at Sakura. "Congratulations, Haruno Sakura-kun. You have succesfully completed the graduation requirements of the Hidden Village of the Leaf's ninja academy. In the name of the Third Hokage, I bestow upon you the rank of genin, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that entails."

Mizuki held out a forehead protector. "Come here, Sakura-chan," he told her, and she nervously stepped forward and accepted the item from his hands. She glanced between the two teachers.

"Go ahead," Iruka said. For once a slight smile graced the scarred teacher's face.

Sakura lifted the forehead protector to her face, then in one smooth motion tied it around her head. Had she really done it? She couldn't quite believe it, after four years of always being on the brink of failure.

"Congratulations," Iruka said again. Mizuki stood and lead her back out to the main classroom, calling for Hinata to come and take her test.

Sakura's eyes instantly sought out Sasuke, seated perfectly still at his desk with his hands folded over his face. She imagined that maybe his head moved slightly in acknowledgment. Seated beside him, leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Ino snorted. "What are you looking at, loser?"

On her other side, her rival Ami laughed nastily. "I bet they had to get a special, extra-large forehead protector for you."

Sakura looked away. She hadn't really expected that graduating would change anything, but it might have been nice to be able to dream for a little while. Naruto offered her a smile as she passed him on her long trek up to the back of the classroom, but with an ease born of practice she ignored him.

When she reached her seat next to the apparently sleeping Shikamaru, the boy raised his head from his desk, momentarily opening one eye. "I guess this test really isn't anything to worry about." There wasn't any malice in the statement, so Sakura just nodded. He was right down with her at the bottom of the class rankings, after all.

She did her best to ignore the cheers and congratulations each other student got from their friends as they passed the final test. She offered her own when Shikamaru returned wearing his forehead protector on his sleeve. He only shrugged and went back to sleep.

A short while later, at the graduation celebration, Sakura immediately sought out her father, leaning on a tree out in the playground. Sakura raced toward him, and when his face broke into the wide smile she so rarely saw, her heart pounded like it was going to burst. "Come here, you," he mock snarled, kneeling down and gathering her into a great big hug.

Sakura gave a squeal as he stood, lifting her up with him. He raised her up until she was looking him directly in the green eyes that matched her own, and then he thrust his head forward, knocking his own, battered forehead protector against hers. "If your mother could see you now," he whispered, and in that moment Sakura didn't care about the other girls, didn't care about Naruto, and didn't even care about Sasuke.

Her father gently set her down. "Mizuki," he said in greeting, and Sakura half-turned to see her now former teacher standing behind her. "Thank you for taking care of her," he said.

Mizuki smiled. "It was nothing," he said. "But if you want to repay me, take the Chuunin Exams again. You're good enough now, and it's embarrassing for my old teammate to be the same rank as his daughter."

Sakura's father looked down at her. "You know why I haven't," he said.

"I know," was all Mizuki said.

After a moment, her father shrugged. "Maybe next time, if I can find a team, since they'll be at home."

There was a cough, and all three of them turned to the source. Sakura clenched her small fists. What did he, of all people, want now? Why did he want to ruin this day?

"Do you need something, Naruto-kun?" Mizuki asked easily.

"Haruno-san," the blond boy said seriously. Sakura wondered why he was being so formal until she realized he was talking to her father. "My mother asked me to ask you to come speak with her."

Her father's face was hard and expressionless. "All that needs to be said was said years ago," he said. What was this about? Sakura had given up on trying to get him to explain why the Uzumaki family was so awful, or how they'd killed her mother.

Naruto swallowed loudly, unusually nervous. "She said to tell you that… that there were things she needed to tell you, now that Sakura-chan was going to be a genin." He glanced at Sakura curiously. "What's all this about?" he demanded loudly, suddenly much more like himself.

Her father's face didn't soften, but he nodded once. "Go," he said harshly. "I'll be there in a moment."

Naruto looked like he wanted to press for an answer to his question. "Naruto-kun," Mizuki warned, and after a moment the boy raced off.

"I hate to impose, Mizuki," Sakura's father began.

"It's no problem, Takeru," the teacher replied. "I was actually going to ask you if I could borrow Sakura-chan for the afternoon."

Sakura's father blinked once. "Why?"

"I'd like to take her down to the administrative offices, introduce her to some of my friends in Hokage-sama's staff," Mizuki said. "Show her some things she'll need to know. Maybe find out which jounin are applying for teams this year."

"All right," her father agreed. "Thank you."

Mizuki smiled down at Sakura. "Come on, Sakura-chan," he said. "I'll take you to go get some dango, and then we'll head to the Hokage Tower, okay?"

  


* * *

  


Mizuki had more than kept his word, seemingly trying to pack all the favoritism he hadn't shown Sakura over the last year into one afternoon. The lunch and trip to the administrative offices had turned into a wide-ranging excursion through the village while her former teacher filled her head with enough advice she wished she'd taken notes. He'd shown her everything from the restaurants near the genin training grounds that gave the best discounts to a building hidden in one of the pockets of woods inside the village walls that he claimed was perfect for secret training sessions. They hadn't made it to the Hokage Tower until the sun started setting.

Now Sakura was on her own, nervously standing in front of the closed door of the Hokage's office. The two chuunin standing guard stared back at her. "What do you want?" the one wearing a bandage across his nose asked, sounding like he wanted her to just disappear.

Sakura wanted to disappear too, but this was for Mizuki. She could do this. "I want to see Hokage-sama," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking. "Any Leaf ninja has the right to present a petition to him." She gestured at her head, feeling the unfamiliar weight of her forehead protector.

"Hokage-sama is in a very important meeting and can't be disturbed," the other guard said.

As if on cue, a very familiar voice came from inside the room. "Come on, old man! You promised you'd take mom and me and Konohamaru out for ramen to celebrate my graduation! Can't that paperwork wait?"

The guards exchanged looks. "You can go right in, Haruno-san," the first said, opening the door.

Sakura scurried inside, the door loudly shutting behind her. The Hokage was seated behind his desk, puffing on a pipe while writing on some papers. Standing on the other side, leaning over the desk, was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. He turned around. "Sakura-chan?" he asked.

"Hmm," the Hokage said, putting his pen down. "And what can I do for you, young lady?"

Sakura took a deep breath. "I have a question for you, Hokage-sama."

The old man smiled gently at her, the same way he did when he took her out for ramen on her birthday. It had been a little surprising to her when she'd learned in her first year at the academy that he didn't do that for everyone. "What do you want to know, Sakura-chan?"

She tried not to let her nervousness show. "Now that I'm a genin," she said, just as Mizuki had instructed her, "I want to know the truth about the Fourth Hokage's legacy."

The Third Hokage's smile faded instantly. Beside him Naruto blinked several times. "Huh?" the boy asked. "What's the Fourth's legacy, old man?"

The Hokage extinguished his pipe and set it down on his desk. "Naruto-kun," he said seriously. "Go find Konohamaru-kun and play with him please. I believe I hear him trying to sneak into the kitchen and steal some cookies."

Naruto glanced between the old man and Sakura, face twisting in confusion. "What the hell is going on?"

"Naruto," the Hokage snapped.

The boy swallowed loudly. "Yes, sir," he said. Sakura shrank away as he passed her, giving her a look she couldn't interpret. The door sounded even louder when it shut this time. 

The Hokage gestured, and Sakura heard the door locking. His eyes bored into her, and she stumbled backward. He kept staring, and she almost just fell down and curled into a ball. She wasn't sure why he was mad, but she knew the old man was furious. There was nothing apparent of the kind grandfather and everything of one of the five most powerful people in the world.

"Sakura-chan," he said softly. "I'm not angry with you." He didn't sound like he was lying, but then he wouldn't. He was a ninja. "I'm angry with whoever told you to ask me that."

She couldn't get Mizuki in trouble. "No one told me," she whispered weakly.

"Sakura-chan," the Hokage said, his voice not losing one ounce of gentleness, "if you ever lie to me again, I will become angry with you." One of his hands tapped on his desk. "The mere fact that you used those words tells me someone told you to ask me that question. If you knew enough to think of the Fourth Hokage's legacy as something you should know about, you would already know the answer to your question. Who was it?"

Sakura stared at her feet, her forehead protector seeming to gain weight with every instant. She couldn't lie to the Hokage, but she had to protect Mizuki. Had her teacher not known that this would make the Hokage mad? That must be it.

"Your father wouldn't, not in ten thousand years," the Hokage said. "Iruka? No, he's not so foolish. Hmm." His hand tapped some more. "I saw Mizuki lead you away from the graduation ceremony. Was it him?" Sakura winced involuntarily. "Mizuki, hmm. I'm very disappointed in him."

"Please don't," Sakura began, but then she stopped. She wasn't even sure why what he had done was wrong. How could she plead for mercy?

The Hokage gestured, and the door unlocked loudly. "Kotetsu!" he shouted.

One of the chuunin guards opened the door and stuck his bandaged head inside the room. "Hokage-sama?" he asked.

"Fetch me Umino Iruka and a tracking squad. Get one of the birds ready to send a signal to the patrols. Izumo!" Sakura winced. How could this be so bad? How could a hero like the Fourth Hokage have left a legacy so horrible that mentioning it was this serious? And what did it have to do with her?

The door opened all the way and the other guard replaced Kotetsu. "Sir!"

"Take Sakura-chan here to meeting room three and stand guard."

"Meeting room three? Hokage-sama, that room is in use. You let -"

"Were my instructions somehow unclear, chuunin?" the Hokage asked.

"No, sir." Izumo stepped inside and grabbed Sakura's hand. She knew better than to protest the mild pain of his too-strong grip. "This way, Haruno-san."

A few minutes later, she was roughly shoved into a windowless room, the door slamming shut behind her. The lights were turned down, and it took her a few moments to adjust to the relative dimness. The room was almost entirely filled by a large, wooden table, surrounded by chairs. At the far end of the table from the entrance, a beautiful woman with long red hair was seated, seemingly asleep.

"Pretty," Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from saying softly. She looked like a manga heroine.

The woman's eyes opened, and Sakura flushed, mortified. The redhead touched a button on the table, and the lights returned to full strength, momentarily blinding Sakura. The woman studied the girl for a moment. "You're… you're Haruno Sakura." Her voice didn't match her face. It was an ugly, croaking thing.

"Y… yes, ma'am," Sakura said, staring at her feet. Being recognized by a stranger was never good. Was this woman going to punish her for the Hokage? All she'd wanted to do was help Mizuki. Was that really wrong?

The woman pushed her chair away from the table, and Sakura realized that it was a wheelchair, rather than one of the large wooden chairs surrounding the table. The woman started moving down the side of the table toward Sakura, and the girl shrank back.

The woman stopped. "I… I'm not going to hurt you," she said hoarsely, her voice breaking. "Come -" She cut off in a sudden fit of coughing before continuing. "Come closer. Please."

Sakura hesitated, but took a few halting steps forward. Then she stopped. "You're… you're crying," she said aloud as she noticed the tears on the woman's face. "Did… did I do something -"

"Child," the woman said, sounding angry. Sakura winced, and the woman grimaced. "Child, it's not your fault," she said more gently. With surprising speed, she wheeled herself across the last few feet, and before Sakura could retreat, she leaned forward in her chair, gathering Sakura into an awkward embrace. "Nothing is your fault, do you understand?" she whispered into Sakura's ear. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She paused for a moment. "Oh, child, I'm sorry," she said softly, stifling a sob. "For everything."

Sakura had absolutely no idea what to do. Nothing in her experience had prepared her for this. The other students at the academy cried, but they were children like her. Her father cried sometimes, around October 10th, but not when he knew she watching. No one ever apologized to her for anything. Only her father hugged her. She didn't even know this woman. What was she supposed to do? She just stood there, frozen, strange feelings burning in her chest.

After a while, the woman released Sakura from her embrace and sat back in her seat again. "You look so much like Amaya did," she said, her eyes shining with tears, "but you have your father's eyes."

Sakura swallowed nervously. "You knew my mother?" she asked weakly.

The woman's eyes closed briefly. "Yes," she said when they opened again. "We were… very close friends, your mother and I." 

She didn't say anything more, and Sakura shifted uncomfortably under the woman's unwavering gaze. What was she supposed to do? The strange feelings inside her didn't fade, but she slowly calmed enough to think. The Hokage had… he'd clearly wanted her to meet this woman. Why? To answer her question?

"Ma'am," Sakura said nervously, "do you know what the Fourth Hokage's legacy is?"

The woman recoiled like she'd been slapped. "Child," she croaked. "I can't tell you if you don't already know. Please don't make me be the one."

"I want to know!" Sakura almost shouted. "What is it? It has something to do with me and everyone gets mad when I mention it!"

The woman suddenly bent over, one hand pressing over her stomach. She looked up at Sakura, then grabbed her. "Child," she said harshly. "Calm down." Sakura tried, almost instinctively obeying the order, but she couldn't. She looked at the woman's face, and her eyes widened as she watched markings appearing on her cheeks. Three dark lines, almost like whiskers, on each one. Just like -

"You're… you're Naruto's mother," Sakura breathed, and the woman nodded. This was the woman who was responsible for her mother's death. Sakura felt a fury rising inside of her, like nothing she'd felt before. She was mad and she was burning inside and -

The woman roughly lifted up Sakura's red dress, provoking a squeal of rage and embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't have the strength to do this through clothing."

Sakura gasped as she looked down at her bare stomach, seeing an intricate, spiral pattern on her skin that she'd never seen before. A seal? What the hell was going on? The woman's free hand pressed against Sakura's skin, the cold tips of her fingers tracing the spiral. There was a flash of green light, cool and soothing. "You remember the taste of that chakra, don't you?" the woman gasped out. "Don't you?"

"What?" Sakura asked confusedly, but then the burning was gone, the spiral over her stomach fading rapidly. Her fury suddenly left her, leaving her gasping for breath. Naruto's mother let Sakura's dress drop back down and took a deep breath herself. Her eyes were dryer now, and there was something new in them as they observed Sakura. The whisker-like lines on the woman's face faded away as Sakura watched.

Sakura stepped backward, feeling her own eyes water. Her anger started to build again, but it felt normal. Not like what she had felt before.

That was when the door opened, and Naruto stepped inside. "Mom? Are you okay? We heard shouting… Sakura-chan? What is she doing in here?" The chuunin guard poked his head inside the room, but Sakura had no eyes for him.

"You," she said to Naruto's mother. "You… you killed my mom!"

Naruto growled suddenly. "What? You take that back! My mom wouldn't -"

"Naruto," the woman said, cutting her son off. She slumped in her wheelchair, seeming much older. "She's right. I did."

Naruto stood frozen. "Mom?" he asked, his voice horrified. "That's why -"

"Kushina-san?" the chuunin interrupted. 

The woman bent over, coughing and covering her mouth with her fist. Sakura took another step away. When Kushina took her hand away, there was blood on it. She stared at it a moment, then started coughing again, loudly and wetly.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Mom!" he shouted, racing over to her side. "Izumo-san! Get the medics!" The chuunin raced off without a word.

Sakura realized she was crying, and she didn't know whether from rage or guilt. She couldn't take this anymore. She ran out of the room, and no one stopped her as she fled the Hokage Tower.

  


* * *

  


The ANBU at the Hokage's side tensed in preparation to leap down from the window of his office and intercept the running girl, but Sarutobi stopped her with a gesture.

"Hokage-sama?" the cat-masked woman asked, confusion clear in her voice.

"Let her run. I'll keep an eye on her myself," Sarutobi confirmed. Her chakra was unique enough that it wouldn't be too hard to track with his seeing glass, knowing her starting point. "She might just lead us straight to Mizuki faster than we can find him ourselves. Call Iruka back. I might need to send someone to her in a hurry, and she'll trust him more than an ANBU."

"Sir," the kunoichi said, "I don't understand. Why would this Mizuki tell the girl where he was going if he sent her straight to you?"

The Hokage grunted. "Mizuki picked a distraction that trivially pointed back to him, and guaranteed he'd only have a few hours' head start at most. No one I picked as an academy teacher is so foolish as to do that on accident. There's something more going on here, and I intend to find out."

"Yes, sir," the ANBU replied, and she spoke into her radio for a moment, passing on the orders. Then she hesitated. "If this Mizuki did steal the Fourth's Scroll of Seals, and he wanted Haruno to meet with him afterward… sir, if they're planning to break the seal -"

"It would be a ritual that would take days or weeks," the Hokage finished firmly. "It isn't an immediate concern."

"Yes, sir."

  


* * *

  


Sakura wanted to go home, but she couldn't. She couldn't tell her father that she'd been tricked into breaking his rule against talking to the Uzumaki. She couldn't tell him that she'd let the woman who had killed her mother hug her. She didn't want to tell him that Mizuki had asked her to do something that had gotten him in trouble. She didn't want to ask him the questions that boiled inside of her. Nothing made any sense. She needed time to think. 

She didn't know where else to go. She had no friends whose house she could visit. A restaurant or cafe was too public; she couldn't figure this out there, even if she had known one that would tolerate her loitering there. For lack of a better option, she continued down the familiar streets to her home. She slowed as she got closer, dread growing in her with each step.

That was when she passed alongside the woods where Mizuki had shown her the hidden, abandoned building. With the sun now set, the dark forest looked less inviting than it had in the early afternoon, but she thought she knew the way. If she could just sit down there for a little while and think, maybe things would start making sense again. Maybe Mizuki was hiding there too, and she could just ask him what he was trying to do. She had to have done something wrong; there was no reason for Mizuki to want the Hokage to be mad at the two of them. She still wanted to help him, if she could.

Even in the darkness she easily found the correct path through the woods. She was good at following instructions, even those she had only heard once. When she reached the small clearing containing the wooden building, she was disappointed to find it empty. She had almost convinced herself that she would find Mizuki here. Maybe he was inside?

She hesitatingly tested the door to the wooden building and found it locked, just as they'd left it this afternoon. Sakura pulled the key Mizuki had given her out of the pocket of the shorts she wore under her dress and unlocked the door. The inside was just as she'd remembered it, dusty and empty except for a writing desk in one corner under the dirty window and a broken bed frame in the other. A ladder Sakura didn't trust lead up to the small attic. Sakura wondered idly what purpose this building had served before turning her mind to more pressing matters.

Maybe Mizuki's purpose would become clear if she could figure out what Fourth Hokage's legacy was. That was a good question, safely distant from the emotional turmoil her encounter with Uzumaki Kushina had provoked. What did she know? The Fourth Hokage's legacy was something bad, something that the Hokage did not want anyone asking about. The Fourth Hokage's legacy had something to do with her; the reactions of both the Hokage and Naruto's mother proved that.

Sakura wandered over to the desk and traced a spiral in the thick dust with her finger. Was the seal that had appeared on her stomach related? Was it itself perhaps the Fourth's legacy? Why had she never seen it until today? Why would the Fourth Hokage have placed such a complex seal on some random girl - there was nothing special about her or her parents that she knew of - who was less than a year old when he sacrificed himself to kill the Nine-Tails? It didn't make any sense.

The young girl dithered a moment over taking the next step, but ultimately lifted her dress over her head with a flush of embarrassment. She neatly folded the red fabric and, after wiping off more dust with her hand, placed it on the desk. Only then did she turn her attention to her stomach.

What she saw was the same as what she saw every morning as she dressed: her own slightly pale, unmarked skin. She poked and prodded it for a minute, as though she could coax the spiral pattern out of hiding. Stubbornly, it remained hidden. What had caused it to emerge? Her anger at Naruto's mother? No, it had started when she'd gotten angry about no one telling her what the Fourth Hokage's legacy was. But she'd been angry before, angrier than she'd been at the time… at least until she had learned the woman's identity and that unnatural rage had started rising inside of her.

She tried to recapture how she'd felt in those moments, but failed. Even thinking of Kushina and how she had killed her mother couldn't summon that wrath. Her thoughts shied away from that. She didn't want to think about that. She wanted to figure out this stupid seal.

Could a genjutsu be hiding it? It didn't make much sense, but it wasn't hard to test, at least to the limit of her abilities. If she tried to escape the illusion and failed… well, it wouldn't rule anything out, given that she was only a newly graduated genin and that any such genjutsu must be complex beyond her imagining. It wouldn't hurt to try, though. She locked her hands into a seal and started to draw upon her chakra.

Obligingly, the the spiral pattern appeared almost instantly, long before she could attempt to dispel the theoretical genjutsu. It was pale at first, but rapidly darkened. Shocked, Sakura separated her hands and released her hold on her chakra, and the seal started to fade away. She quickly reformed the hand seal and called up her chakra again, and the fading halted and reversed. Soon, the full pattern she recalled was visible: the spiral surrounded by two semi-circles, both with four prongs jutting outward, away from the spiral.

Could it really be this simple? After a moment's thought, she was forced to conclude that it could be. She didn't practice ninjutsu in her underwear, after all. The seal could have been visible all through her academy classes, and no one would have ever known. But what was its purpose? What was it doing to her?

She studied the pattern, but it might as well have been gibberish to her. The incident on her first day of classes had left her with a distaste for the art, and sealing was one area of study where she hadn't indulged in any recreational reading. That was clearly something she would need to rectify.

She stared at the mysterious pattern a moment longer before letting it fade away again. Despite her discovery, she was as deep in the dark as before. She felt certain that this seal was, or was somehow related to, the Fourth Hokage's legacy, but that put her almost no closer to finding out what that terrible legacy was. Shivering from a suddenly noticed chill, she quickly redressed herself. That was when she heard the voices outside, and froze.

"The scroll is in here? Why didn't you just bring it to our meeting point?"

"Do you have to ask that question, Tsurugi?" Mizuki!

"I suppose trust is a little much to ask for at this point," the other man answered. "But isn't this a little close to the tower?"

"They don't know that I can use shadow replications," Mizuki said. Shadow replications? Sakura had never heard of those. "They've been chasing red herrings all over the village for hours now." What was going on? This didn't make any sense at all! 

The handle of the door moved. "Unlocked?" Mizuki asked, and suddenly the door was flung open. "Sakura-chan?" her former teacher asked in shock. He was dressed for battle, she realized, oversized shuriken strapped to his back. Beside him stood a man Sakura didn't recognize, not that she could really tell behind the dark cloth mask that hung over his face or the bandana that covered his head. He was tall, and his thin-rimmed glasses did nothing to hide the cold look in his eyes as he studied Sakura. 

She swallowed, not in the least bit comforted by the Leaf forehead protector the strange man wore. "Mizuki-sensei," she said reflexively.

"What are you doing here? Hokage-sama should have -"

Mizuki was interrupted as the man beside him suddenly moved past him. One of his arms twisted and lengthened, and before Sakura could react it had grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the filthy window. "What have we here?" the man asked.

"Tsurugi," Mizuki said warningly.

The man's free hand reached up to adjust his thin glasses. "It seems we'll be collecting two treasures from the Hokage today," he said. "Our master will be pleased."

"This wasn't part of the agreement!" Mizuki snapped.

"Target of opportunity," Tsurugi said. "Now, unless you want to try renegotiating… fetch the scroll." Mizuki's posture fell, and he slowly walked over to an empty corner and knelt. Suddenly there was a large scroll lying on the floor beside him. Genjutsu!

Sakura's mind was racing with a thousand thoughts, but one forced itself past her panic. This man knew what made her special! "W-why?" she gasped out. For an instant, the man's grip around her neck tightened. "Why do you want me?"

Tsurugi relaxed his grip and laughed. "You don't know? I'll tell you."

Mizuki froze. "Tsurugi…"

"All right, all right," the man said with another laugh. "She can live in ignorance a while longer." He paused, and then his other arm lengthened, grabbing the scroll before retracting to his side. "After you," he said, gesturing with the scroll at the door.

Mizuki nodded and turned to the exit.

"Mizuki-sensei," Sakura whispered, and he stopped as he reached the door. "Why are you doing this?"

He opened the door. "I've told you before," he said. "I'd do anything to protect my precious people."

"And best you remember that," Tsurugi said. The arm holding Sakura shortened, carrying her with it. She struggled briefly, but in a matter of moments she was securely held against the man's chest. Mizuki and him headed outside, and Tsurugi shut to door behind him. He set the scroll and Sakura down, but her kept one of her arms twisted behind her back in secure grip.

"What are you waiting for?" Mizuki asked. "We need to get moving."

"We do," Tsurugi said. "Once you discard your weapons." He chuckled. "I don't trust you either."

Mizuki nodded. "Wise," he said, and then the scroll next to the other man detonated.

Tsurugi was between Sakura and the blast, but it still knocked her against the wall of the building. The log her captor used for the Replacement Technique fell on top of Sakura, knocking the wind out of her.

A half-dozen kunai flew from the cover of the trees, but only one struck Mizuki, scoring a thin slice across his upper arm. He smiled grimly, lifting one massive shuriken off of his back with his other hand. It began to spin rapidly.

"You would risk your precious Tsubaki, for that thing?" Tsurugi's voice came from out of the darkness. "I'm surprised."

"I would," Mizuki replied, "to avoid the certainty of your master hurting my student." He paused. "Sakura, run," he commanded, and then he leapt into the trees.

As soon as she got the log off of her, Sakura obeyed, running in the opposite direction. Less than a minute later, her other teacher Iruka appeared out of the gloom in front of her. "Sakura-chan, stop," he ordered.

Sakura paused for just a moment, then hurled the rock she'd picked up off the ground during her flight at the man as she broke off in another direction. She didn't see if her attack hit, but it didn't do any good. Moments later, Tsurugi, his whole body stretched out like a snake, wrapped around her, pinning her to the ground and twisting her neck painfully.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Iruka-sensei never calls me Sakura-chan," she managed to gasp out.

"Of course not," the man said. "What an amateur mistake I made. There's no way Iruka would call you that."

"Why?" Sakura asked again. She didn't need to say anything more.

This time Tsurugi answered her. "You know the story of the Fourth Hokage's final battle, don't you?" he asked, his breath warm on Sakura's neck. "What they don't tell you in the academy is that the Fourth couldn't kill the demon. Perhaps no man could.

"They also don't tell you about a special law," he continued, "a law that concerns only you. A law that hides a secret about you."

Sakura was not a slow thinker, and her mind made the connection it hadn't been able to make before. "I'm the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox," she said tonelessly, as her world crashed to pieces around her. It made a terrible sense. A demon that could not be killed was sealed into human form instead, raised as one of the very ninja it had tried to destroy. Her mind raced through implications despite her desire to stop it. Did her father know? Was he her father at all? What did that even mean, if she was the demon fox? Was everything she thought she was nothing but a lie? 

Tsurugi just laughed. Then he coughed, and Sakura felt something warm and wet hit her. His grip went slack, and Sakura instinctively freed herself in an instant. She turned around to see one of Mizuki's massive shuriken sticking out of her captor's back.

"How?" Tsurugi asked.

Mizuki standing behind him and holding another shuriken, snorted. "Remedial ninjutsu lesson," he said quietly, fury in his voice. "Shadow replications keep going when the original is unconscious. Idiot." The second shuriken came down and took Tsurugi in the neck.

Sakura stumbled backward, falling to the ground. "Mizuki-sensei," she said, her voice quavering. Did he know the truth about her? Would he hate her now, like everyone else?

Mizuki walked past the still corpse of his opponent and knelt down beside Sakura. She looked away in shame, and he reached out, gently turning her face back to him. "You're not the demon fox," he said softly.

"But it makes sense," Sakura answered. "That's why everyone hates me."

"Listen to me," Mizuki pleaded. "You are Haruno Sakura. You were born on the twenty-eight of March, and I held you in my arms on that day. You are the daughter of Haruno Takeru and Amaya. You are my most wonderful student. You are not the demon, and never will be."

"Then what am I? I've seen the seal!"

"You are the demon's container," Mizuki explained. "Its prison. It was sealed inside of you, but it is not you."

Sakura wondered if that even made a difference. Surely a being so terrible as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox could not be housed by a baby girl without consequence on her development. Whatever girl Haruno Sakura might have grown into had as good as died on the day the demon was placed inside of her.

There was a soft thud, and Iruka landed on the ground beside Mizuki. "Mizuki," he said, his voice hard.

The silver-haired teacher stood. "I won't ask for mercy," he said. "If he hadn't tried to kidnap Sakura-chan, I would have gone along with him." He sighed. "The scroll is in the hut, under a genjutsu. The real me is about one hundred meters back that way, knocked out." He pointed.

Iruka nodded. "He threatened Tsubaki-chan?"

Mizuki nodded. "When I had second thoughts." He looked down at Sakura. "Sakura-chan, I don't know when or if they'll let the real me speak to you again." He smiled weakly. "But remember what I told you. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

Sakura nodded stiffly, still trying to absorb everything she had learned.

Mizuki's wan smile faded, and then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

  


* * *

  


Much later that evening, after a stressful, too-long interrogation from the Hokage, and an even worse, too-short talk with her father, Sakura was sent to her room to sleep. As she undressed for bed, before putting her nightgown on, she stood in front of her mirror and channeled chakra. She stared at the seal that appeared for a long moment, then released her chakra, hiding the marks with her hands until they faded.

Then she walked over to her desk, turned to the eighteenth page in the cute pink notebook her father bought her to celebrate her admission to the Hidden Leaf's ninja academy, and added a fifth rule to her list in her custom cipher.

"No one must learn what you are."

  


* * *

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I first feel compelled to note the debt of inspiration I owe to Avaryan's (sadly unfinished) Soul Voice. While those familiar with that story will note that this one is already quite different, this story wouldn't exist without my having recently reread that one.
> 
> 2) Unlike my other current story, One Hundred Weeks, Dead Garden is based on something approximating current canon. I won't rule out minor AU elements to make a better story (depending on your interpretation, I've already introduced a few) and don't promise any sort of compliance with future canon revelations.
> 
> 3) I'm not sure it was wise to start this when I just started another massive story, but muses are fickle creatures. The current plan is for this story to take a back seat to One Hundred Weeks, with its (more reasonably sized) chapters as something I can work on when I'm suffering from writer's block or otherwise uninspired to work on that story. I suppose a sufficiently massive positive reaction to this story could convince me otherwise, though.
> 
> 4) My thanks go to everyone on The Fanfiction Forum who commented on the partial drafts of this chapter, published under the oh-so-promising title of "An Untitled Kyuubi!Sakura Thing," and to everyone who commented on the complete draft on the FFML.
> 
> 5) Readers with keen memories of my other stories may notice that I am using the same personal names for Sakura's parents in this story as I did in One Hundred Days/Weeks. This is an artifact of laziness; they do not share any of the backstory introduced in those stories.
> 
> Draft Started: June 04, 2011  
> Draft Finished: June 09, 2011  
> Draft Released: June 10, 2011  
> Final Released: July 12, 2011


	2. Dreams

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case… oh, forget it.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was late for the team assignment meeting. This shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, as he'd been late to the meeting each and every time he'd been told by the Hokage to request a team. He was well aware that this usually resulted in him getting a team no one else wanted, but that was fine. Usually, he wasn't particularly interested in teaching anyway, and no one got upset when that kind of team failed. Everyone won except for the old man.

This year, though, he was only an hour and a half late. That was long enough to escape the standard lectures about the responsibilities of a jounin teacher, the academy teachers' overview of this term's graduates, and for the Hokage to announce the balanced team makeups he and the teachers had decided on. The other jounin would only be beginning to fight over the teams.

Kakashi paused as he landed on the windowsill outside the meeting room to get a handle on the situation. It looked like Yamanaka Haruka was trying to pry a team away from Sarutobi Asuma. It was futile; Asuma had enough seniority over the recently promoted blonde kunoichi that it wasn't funny. Asuma had his back to the window, and Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at the student files spread out in front of him and snorted. Yamanaka was doubly foolish. The First Hokage himself had established the policy that no genin team would be taught by a clan-mate of any of the students.

Deciding the Hokage would probably appreciate the interruption, Kakashi stopped hiding his presence and tapped loudly on the glass of the window. An instant later, Asuma spun around in his seat and opened it. Kakashi hopped inside. "You're early, Kakashi," Asuma said easily. "There's actually more than one team unclaimed."

Kakashi gave a half-shrug, smiling with his visible eye. "Eh," he said. "I found a shortcut."

"Will wonders never cease," another jounin muttered under his breath.

The Hokage sighed loudly, and all eyes turned to him. "You're not going to be able to do this when I'm gone, Kakashi-kun," he said. "My teachers would have killed you by now."

"You'll still be in charge when we're all long dead, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied cheerfully.

The old man snorted. "I doubt that," he said. He waved over at where one of the academy teachers for this class was seated, trios of folders spread out on the table before him. Where was the other teacher? "You've got seniority," the Hokage continued. "You can take the next pick."

Kakashi gave another shrug. "Whichever team has Uzumaki on it," he said. "I'll take that one." The whole room was silent, and Kakashi suddenly felt like he'd walked into a trap. Ridiculous.

"Eh, Kakashi," Funeno Daikoku said with a nervous laugh from the middle of the table. "You sure you don't want Uchiha instead?"

Kakashi's eye wandered over to him. "The Uchiha? Under me?" he asked. "The whole clan will come back from the dead just to avenge the insult." He turned back to the Hokage. "Uzumaki," he repeated. "We both know you aren't going to deny me him, Hokage-sama, so hand his team over."

"Why do you want Kushina-sensei's kid so much?" a woman seated at the far end of the table, waiting for her turn to pick a team, asked. Kakashi only vaguely recognized her, the only one to make full jounin from the last round of promotion board hearings. "I wanted -"

"None of your business," Kakashi said curtly. "And you'll take whichever team is left when we're done."

"Be nice to Yuuhi-kun, Kakashi," Asuma chided. Kakashi ignored him.

The Hokage puffed on his pipe before speaking. "Daikoku-kun has a point, Kakashi-kun," he observed. "If anyone here can help Uchiha-kun awaken his inheritance and learn to use it, it'll be you." He glanced sideways at the academy teacher. "Who were his teammates, Iruka-kun?" he asked.

The scarred chuunin shuffled the folders in front of him. "Aburame and Inuzuka, Hokage-sama," he answered.

"Not interested," Kakashi said. "Don't play games, Hokage-sama."

"All right," the Hokage said, smiling a smile that Kakashi didn't trust one inch. The old man acted like a harmless old fool half the time, but Kakashi well-remembered that he hadn't been called the God of Shinobi just for his battle prowess. There really was a trap, and he'd walked into it, played like a well-tuned instrument. The Hokage continued, "Iruka-kun, switch Uchiha and Hyuuga, and give Kakashi-kun Team Seven." There was a sudden intake of breath from the other jounin.

"Yes, sir." The chuunin held out the folders, but Kakashi just stared at the bottom one. Red tape around the edges marked it as top secret, and a security seal held it closed. There was only one student whose folder that could be.

"Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Haruno?" Kakashi asked disgustedly. "I asked you to stop playing games. That's not a team, that's a bad joke." It was a joke in remarkably poor taste. Kakashi had thought better of the Hokage.

"Do you have a problem with my decision, Kakashi-kun?" the Hokage asked quietly, in that deceptive tone of voice that Kakashi knew meant the old man was disappointed. He puffed on his pipe as he waited for an answer.

"There's so many different reasons to object to that combination I don't even know where to begin," Kakashi replied. He couldn't air most of them in this company, anyway.

The Hokage smiled around his pipe. "I like the combination. It's a little nostalgic." Had the old man finally gone senile?

Asuma shifted in his seat. "They aren't their mothers, Hokage-sama," he said uncomfortably. "And those three weren't on the same genin team anyway."

Kakashi was grateful for the support, but it was clear it wouldn't do any good. "All right," he said, grabbing the folders from the uncomfortable-looking academy teacher. He'd give them the same test he always gave. And when… if they failed, he'd pick up Naruto again in the next cycle. Kushina would understand.

If they passed… well, that might just be a sign that the Hokage was right. There was only one way to find out, wasn't there?

The Hokage nodded. "Iruka-kun, please give Kurenai-kun Team Eight."

That drew a protest from one of the other jounin, but it was cut off at a stern look from the Hokage. If he wanted to directly assign a team, who was going to argue with him?

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," the woman who'd questioned Kakashi about his interest in Naruto replied. That was a team far more promising than a fresh jounin might have ordinarily claimed. Clearly the Hokage was favoring her, probably for being obviously willing to take on the Haruno girl as a student.

Kakashi turned to leave, but was stopped by a cough from the Hokage. "I'll need to speak with you, after the meeting," the old man said.

"Understood," Kakashi replied, and then he left.

He arrived at the Hokage's office only an hour after the meeting let out. "Why this team, really?" Kakashi asked without wasting time on preliminaries.

"The obvious reasons, Kakashi-kun," Sarutobi replied tiredly. "There's no terrible hidden agenda." He paused. "Well, not one that concerns you. I'm doing a favor for Kushina-chan."

Kakashi pondered that. "That explains the Uchiha."

"Not him," Sarutobi said. His mouth twisted. "You know Kushina-chan and Mikoto-san weren't the best of friends, by the end."

"Haruno?" Kakashi asked. "Kushina-sama asked…" What was she thinking?

"Your teacher," Sarutobi said harshly, "wanted her to be seen as a hero, not a monster. Kushina-chan stands by that wish. Will you?"

There was only one answer Kakashi could give to that. "I'll give this team the same chance I always give," he said. "If they deserve to be my students, they'll pass it." His teacher would be disappointed in him otherwise.

Sarutobi grunted once. "There's another matter. Yesterday evening, academy teacher Katou Mizuki and genin Tsurugi Misumi attempted to steal the Scroll of Seals. Haruno Sakura became involved, and she discovered the truth about what happened to the Nine-Tails."

"I see," Kakashi said.

"Mizuki is cooperating with our investigation," Sarutobi continued. "He was apparently at least partially being coerced. We've been following the thread from Tsurugi."

"He's dead?" Kakashi asked.

Sarutobi nodded. "We picked up his teammate, Akadou Yoroi. Ibiki is on him, but he doesn't seem to know much. His memories may have been erased before we got to him."

"Third team member?"

"Dead in Rice Field Country almost a year ago and never replaced," the Hokage answered. "Their current squad leader has vanished. I'm adding him to the bingo book as a missing ninja."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Kakashi asked. "That Haruno knows the truth is my concern, but the rest…"

The Hokage sighed. "It isn't totally clear," he said, "but it seems Haruno-kun may have also been a target. There may be further attempts." He paused. "It's just a hunch at this point, but I'm concerned this might be my mistake coming home to roost."

"Orochimaru," Kakashi guessed.

"Keep an eye out, Kakashi-kun," Sarutobi said. "And keep your students safe."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "I always take care of my comrades," he reminded the old man. "I should get going. I need to read their files and prepare to meet them tomorrow."

With such a… unique team, maybe this set of introductions would be less inane than the ones from the teams he'd failed before.

  


* * *

  


_"My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like being a ninja and my mom and Old Man Hokage and Konohamaru and Hinata-chan and Teuchi-san and Ayame-san from Ichiraku Ramen and -"_

_"I think I have the picture, Naruto-kun."_

_"Okay, Kakashi-sensei! I don't like secrets I'm not 'ready for,' and my dream is to become a medical ninja surpassing Tsunade-hime and heal my mother!"_

  


After he dismissed his provisional team, Kakashi went to the hospital without delay for a meeting he couldn't be late for. Visiting hours there were strict, and even he would not violate those rules frivolously. No sane man wanted to antagonize any of the medical ninja who had built the finest hospital in the known world in Tsunade's name, even if none of them had inherited her fearsome strength.

Others might beg to differ when they thought he wasn't around to object, but Kakashi counted himself among the ranks of the sane. Besides, Uzumaki Kushina was perhaps the only person living who had as great a claim on Kakashi's time as the dead. For her, his ghosts could wait, and he would always be there as soon as she was allowed visitors.

He took the stern lectures against over-stressing the patient with as much grace as he could, and then he was allowed into the room where Kushina was recovering. It always hurt to see her like this, pale and weak. He still gave her a cheery smile behind his mask, one obvious enough that even his new students should have been able to notice it.

Kushina gave him a short, choking laugh. "Don't strain those poor disused muscles on my account, Kakashi-kun."

With the ease of long practice, Kakashi ignored the horrible croaking sound of the redheaded woman's ruined voice. "What can I say, Kushina-sama?" he said lightly as he seated himself on a chair next to her bed. "I can't help it."

Kushina shook her head. "I assume you're here to talk with me about Naruto."

"That can wait," Kakashi said, his face and his voice turning serious. "Are you all right, Kushina-sama? The medics didn't seem too worried, but…" He trailed off. Ever since that horrible day, Kushina had suffered from the injuries the Nine-Tails had given her. Even the legendary Tsunade had only been able to save her life, not restore her to health. Naruto had been almost four years old before she'd been able to leave the hospital, and she'd spent more than any mother should of the rest of her son's life back here.

She grimaced. "I just overexerted myself," she said. "Tried to channel a little too much chakra."

"You shouldn't be doing that at all, Kushina-sama," Kakashi said without thinking. He regretted the words as he spoke them. Kushina hated being reminded like that of the strength she had lost. The demon's poisonous chakra had all but destroyed her chakra coils, Tsunade had told him and the old man twelve years ago, and Kushina would never be able to be a ninja again, much less recover to take the title of Fifth Hokage like Sarutobi had hoped. Nothing the medics had been able to do since then had changed that prognosis.

For once, Kushina just sighed. "I know," she said, "but it seemed a good idea at the time. Now, what about my son? I'm sure you forced Sarutobi to give him to you. You haven't failed him already, have you?"

Kakashi accepted the change of subject and laughed. "They won't have the chance to fail until tomorrow," he said. "You haven't told Naruto about the bell test, have you?" He scratched the back of his head. "It would be embarrassing to have to go begging to Asuma to find out what kind of tests everyone else uses."

"Of course not," Kushina replied. "Minato would never forgive me." They were silent for a while. "So, who are Naruto's teammates?" Kushina prompted eventually.

"Uchiha Sasuke for one," Kakashi said after a moment, then waited for Kushina's reaction. There had indeed been bad blood between her and the Uchiha boy's mother.

"You don't need to wait for an outburst," Kushina said, her harsh voice quiet. "That kunai is long-buried and was never aimed at Sasuke-kun."

"As you say," Kakashi said, but he hesitated before naming the third member of the team. The Hokage had implied that Kushina had requested the girl be placed on Naruto's team, but Kakashi still couldn't figure out why. It was a move that could have many motives. "The other member is Haruno Sakura."

Kushina's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" she croaked out.

"I was under the impression you requested it," Kakashi said, his own eye narrowing as he considered. "Hokage-sama said it was a favor to you."

Kushina's lips pressed tightly together for a second before she answered. "Damn old man," she whispered under her breath, but loudly enough for Kakashi to hear. "Stop interfering."

"What is it?" Kakashi asked.

Kushina shook her head, anger still clear on her face. "That's between me and Sarutobi," she answered.

"I can try to have her reassigned," Kakashi offered, already planning. That Yuuhi woman had been willing, right? If he could come up with something to sweeten the pot, he might still be able to trade Haruno for Inuzuka, or maybe even Hyuuga. There was a lot an ally like him could do for a fresh jounin, if he bothered to exert himself on her behalf.

"No," Kushina said firmly. She coughed once. "They already know the teams, don't they? She doesn't deserve that kind of indignity, Kakashi-kun."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

Kushina struggled for a moment to sit up in bed before falling back. "You don't hate that girl, do you?" she asked quietly. "She isn't the Nine-Tails. You should know that."

"Of course I know that," Kakashi said. "But that doesn't mean I want her on Naruto's team." Or his, really. "I trust the seal, your work and Minato-sensei's, but I've never heard of one of her kind that wasn't a danger to everyone around them."

Kushina was silent, and Kakashi continued, "I saw the Four-Tails at Bellflower Pass." He paused, remembering. "That thing killed as many Rock as Leaf once he started throwing lava techniques around. I don't want that to happen to Naruto." He didn't shudder, because he was a jounin ninja, but he wanted to as he thought of the sheer power of the Nine-Tails. The power that poor girl would inevitably draw upon, that he would have to try and help her learn to control. The power that had killed so many, that had crippled the woman lying in front of him.

The redhead was still silent. "Kushina-sama?" Kakashi asked carefully.

She looked away, not letting Kakashi see her face. "I see," was all she said.

Kakashi wasn't sure what to say, but he was saved as he heard two people approaching Kushina's room. Unfamiliar footsteps, not Naruto or the Hokage. Kushina heard them too, he could tell, her whole body suddenly tensing. Kakashi stood, wondering who could provoke that reaction.

There was a light tapping on the door, and a silver-haired boy in an assistant medic's white uniform stuck his head into the room. "Uzumaki-sama," he said respectfully, pushing up his glasses with one gloved hand. "You have another visitor."

"Send him in," Kushina said tightly, her voice almost cracking. Kakashi frowned. It wasn't like her to react like this to anyone. "Help me sit up, Kakashi-kun."

He did, arranging her pillows to support her back, as the door opened wider, revealing a dark-haired man with startling bright green eyes, who Kakashi recognized from the files he'd been studying the night before. He bowed slightly to the medic. "Thank you for the assistance with the front desk, Yakushi-san," he said, "and I'll consider your offer."

"Please," the boy said, "call me Kabuto. With your permission, I will call on you later in the week, Haruno-san."

"Then call me Takeru, Kabuto-kun," the man returned, and then he stepped inside. The medic shut the door behind him.

"This is convenient," Kakashi said lightly to cover his surprise. Why was this man coming to visit Kushina? He shouldn't know the team makeup yet, unless he'd already spoken with his daughter. "I was going to need to track you down once I was done with Kushina-sama, Haruno-san."

The man grunted. "Why would Sharingan Kakashi want to… unless… you're to be Sakura-chan's teacher?" Kakashi nodded, and the man frowned, his eyes becoming hard as his gaze turned to Kushina. The woman glanced away for a moment, and the man grunted again, like he'd been hit. "Impossible," he said.

"It was not my request, Haruno-san," Kushina said. "I gave my word." What was that about, now?

Kakashi watched curiously as the man almost shook with anger, his fists clenching for a moment. "Damn that insufferable old…" he muttered under his breath before catching himself and forcing calm into his stance. He looked back at Kakashi. "Who is the third member, Hatake-sama?" he demanded.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi replied.

The man's eyes flared. "That's not a team," he stated furiously. "That's a bad joke." Kakashi wasn't able to stop himself from laughing.

"Nothing, nothing," he said easily when the man glared at him.

"Kakashi-kun," Kushina said. "Please leave us a moment. Haruno-san and I need to discuss something in private."

"That can wait a moment," Takeru said. He turned to Kakashi. "I don't know what you've heard or think about my daughter, Hatake-sama," he said, no respect in his voice despite the form of address. "But I'm… I am begging you to treat her as you would any other kunoichi." His voice turned genuinely pleading. "She… you know this, I'm sure. She just found out, the day before yesterday, and she's taking it badly. Don't… don't hurt her. Please." There were tears in his eyes, and he bowed his head slightly.

Kakashi didn't say anything, sensing the man wasn't done talking. After several seconds, Takeru spoke again, his voice now hard. "And… if there is an unfortunate training accident, or if you come back from a mission with some story about how you weren't able to save her… I won't care if the Hokage believes you. I won't care that you're Sharingan Kakashi and I'm a career genin. I won't care that it would be treason. I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Kakashi wanted to laugh, but didn't. "Ninja who don't follow the rules are trash, Haruno-san," he said coldly. Then he smiled with his visible eye. "But ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash. I'll forgive the insult this once."

* * *

_"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike most things, and there's nothing in particular I like."_

_"Hey, hey, don't say that, you bastard! You gotta like me, huh?"_

_"Shut up, Naruto. I won't reduce it to a mere dream… but I do have a goal, to restore the Uchiha Clan and to kill a certain person."_

_"Ooh, spooky."_

_"Shut up, Naruto."_

  


When Kakashi was done talking to Kushina and Takeru, he left them to their own conversation; a glare from the redheaded woman convinced him not to eavesdrop. He wandered by the Hokage Tower and confirmed with one of the administrators that the Third Training Ground was available tomorrow, which he probably should have done before telling his students to meet him there. Oh well.

Then he found a nice spot on a rooftop with a view and read for a while. It should have been a pleasant way to pass the remainder of the afternoon, but Kakashi wasn't able to concentrate on the book. He muttered an apology to Jiraiya as he slipped it away and stared at the sky for a few moments. 

He had, actually for the first time in all the times the Hokage had forced him to take a team, done what he was supposed to do after meeting with his students and discussed them with their guardians. A part of him felt like the only way to make up for that was not show up tomorrow, but he pushed that thought aside and focused on the real reason for his discomfort. One of his students had no guardian for him to speak with, beyond perhaps the Hokage himself.

"Uchiha Sasuke, huh?" Kakashi said out loud, his eye idly following an ANBU patrol moving from rooftop to rooftop. He knew why the Hokage wanted the boy on his team; the reason he had given was both obvious and hard to disagree with. The facts that the boy had been orphaned at a young age, was considered a prodigy, and was far too serious for his own good were simply coincidence, Kakashi was sure the Hokage would say. If the Uchiha boy just happened to remind his new teacher of a certain Hatake Kakashi as he'd been when he'd been shoved onto a team, that was beside the point.

He supposed that would make Naruto… well, despite the gender and his more boisterous personality, it would be Rin, wouldn't it? She'd always cared deeply, despite how easily she let people into her heart. That was why she'd jumped at the opportunity to learn medical ninjutsu.

Was Haruno somehow supposed to be Obito, then? Kakashi snorted at that. It was almost as ludicrous as imagining himself as his teacher. Namikaze Minato was not a person he had any dream of matching as a ninja or as a teacher. Kakashi could only hope that he wouldn't be too disappointed in him. He sighed.

Kakashi stood, and went where he always went when this mood came on him, and spent the next several hours visiting with his ghosts. He left the Memorial Stone in a better mood, and as the sun finishing slipping out of sight, he decided it would be appropriate this once for him to visit with someone else's ghosts.

That was how he found himself in the graveyard of the Uchiha Clan, before the memorial marker of Uchiha Fugaku and his wife. Feeling somewhat awkward, he muttered a quiet prayer for the Uchiha clan head. The man had been unlikeable at the best of times, but Kakashi still owed Fugaku. As the head of the Uchiha, he would have been well within his rights to demand that Obito's eye be destroyed. Yet after hearing Minato's report, all the man had done was grunt, then assign an Uchiha medic to inspect the transplant and instruct Kakashi in the basics of using the Sharingan. That Fugaku and the Uchiha Clan had never let him or Minato forget how generous they had been that day did not change the fact that they had been generous.

"I'll be taking care of your son for a little while, Fugaku-san," Kakashi told the gravestone. "Maybe only for a day," he admitted, "but maybe a while longer too." He bowed his head. "I cannot promise that I will teach him as you would have, or even how you would have wanted." Kakashi hesitated. "But I will promise to do my best to turn him into a shinobi and a man both the Uchiha and the Hidden Leaf can be proud of." That would have to be good enough.

He glanced at Uchiha Mikoto's name, engraved next to her husband's. "It may please you," he told her, "to know that Kushina-sama's son and Amaya-san's daughter are to be Sasuke-kun's teammates." Or perhaps not. The dead did not share whether they still held grudges. "If it doesn't," he added lightly, "you may address your complaints to Hokage-sama."

Then he heard footsteps approaching, and he relocated himself to a nearby tree to watch Uchiha Sasuke kneel before his parents' grave. "Father, Mother," the boy said in greeting, and then he was silent for a long time.

Part of Kakashi wanted to stay and watch, to learn more of this boy he might need to teach, but he saw the tears glittering unshed in Sasuke's dark eyes. He had intruded on the boy's ghosts enough already; Kakashi had his own, and he didn't imagine the boy would like sharing any more than he did.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told Sasuke, too softly to be heard, and then he was gone, leaving the boy alone with his family.

  


* * *

  


_"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like my father and Mi- and reading, I guess. I don't like people who won't leave me alone."_

_"And your dream?"_

_"It's… I don't have one, sir."_

  


Haruno Sakura was the first of Kakashi's students to arrive at the Third Training Ground in the morning. For a second time, Kakashi marveled at how… non-threatening she seemed. The long, unbound pink hair alone made it hard for him to see her as a the container of such a fearsome power as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. In his brief interaction with her, she'd been a quiet, sad-seeming girl, showing no sign of the infinite rage and malice that slumbered inside of her. 

The academy teachers' report spoke highly of her intelligence and - surprisingly - of her obedience to and respect for authority. They weren't the traits Kakashi associated with her kind, he had to admit. To take the ostracism she had suffered under so quietly spoke of her character, but did it speak to her strength or to her weakness? And what changes would the revelation of the truth about her cause? Despite the academy teachers' words, she was going to be a troublesome student if she passed. Kakashi was sure of it.

He stayed concealed near the top of a tree as Uchiha Sasuke arrived precisely on time, and he didn't stir as Uzumaki Naruto joined his teammates a little less than five minutes later. Now the test would begin, even if the three children didn't realize it. One genin team had failed here, dispersing only a half hour after the test started. It wasn't merely for leaving that he'd failed them, of course. It was because they had left individually and gone their separate ways without making any plans to meet again.

No significant words passed between his students, but they at least did settle down to wait as a team. Kakashi noted, though, that the girl kept Sasuke between her and Naruto at all times. He also noted the longing glances she sent the dark-haired boy when he wasn't looking, and the twisted, confused and angry expression that marred Naruto's face when he looked at Sakura. There was history there, clearly, even if it was only their parents' seemingly hostile relationship poisoning them against each other.

Sasuke just stood stoically between them, ignoring the subdued antics of his teammates. Unsurprising, Kakashi thought, but it remained to be seen what lay underneath the cold facade. Sometimes, it was the most unfriendly-seeming genin who came the closest to passing his test. People were complicated like that.

Kakashi half-read his book as he watched the three kids realize that their teacher wasn't showing up. It took about an hour for Naruto to wander over to the base of a tree and start napping. Kakashi almost gave an amused grunt at that, not sure whether he was trusting his teammates to wake him or just not considering that a teacher might not be thrilled to find him asleep.

A while later, Sakura opened her mouth, as though she was about to say something to Sasuke, but when the boy turned to look at her she shook her head, and looked away. "Nothing," she mumbled, her cheeks flushing, when Sasuke gave her an interrogative grunt. She turned away from her obvious crush. Then she froze, shock still.

Kakashi followed her gaze to the Memorial Stone, positioned on the edge of the training ground. "Call… please call me if Sensei comes, Sasuke-kun," she said, drawing another, curious grunt from the Uchiha. Then she started walking toward the memorial. Kakashi followed, silently moving to a tree overlooking her as Sakura stood in front of the inscribed names.

She shook with some contained emotion, and spoke, so quietly even Kakashi had to strain to understand her. "I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head.

Kakashi's eye widened, an unfamiliar feeling of guilt growing in him. He used this training ground for every team, but the girl didn't know that, and among the dead commemorated here were those who died defending the village from the Nine-Tails. Did she think this location was a message or a warning to her?

Sakura's hand reached out, hovering over the section where those dead were listed, before rubbing one name. Kakashi well-recalled that list, and it wasn't hard for him to guess what name she sought out. He wondered if Haruno Amaya had known before she died the fate that awaited her daughter.

"I'm sorry," the pink-haired girl said again. "I… I'm not…" She trailed off, and Kakashi could see tears escaping her eyes.

He also saw the boy approaching long before her. "Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he drew near, his teammate starting in surprise. The blond glanced at Sakura's hand, still resting on the list of names. "Your mother?" he asked, his voice tight and something unreadable to Kakashi in his expression.

Sakura dropped her hand and didn't say anything. She took a step away from the boy, but Naruto closed the distance.

"My mother," Naruto said, "won't tell me anything more." Sakura was still silent. "I know you aren't supposed to talk to me," Naruto continued, "but I have to know what… my mom isn't like that! I can't believe she would do something like that!" What was the boy talking about? And Sakura was forbidden from speaking to him? There were clearly words that needed to be had with Haruno Takeru. "Please," Naruto pleaded. "Tell me what you know. I'll promise never to bother you again, if that's what it takes."

"Father… says I'm allowed to talk to you now," Sakura said. "Since we're teammates. I… I just…"

"You don't want to talk to me?" Naruto asked. "I… guess I understand."

The two were silent for a moment, then Sakura spoke again. "There isn't anything else I know," she said. "All Father told me is that your mother killed mine." Kakashi almost fell out of the tree. What nonsense was that man filling his daughter's head with? Kushina had to be told!

"Mom wouldn't tell me anything else either," Naruto said. "Just that… just that you weren't lying and had… every right to be angry."

Kakashi pursed his lips. What the hell kind of game was Kushina playing? The Nine-Tails had killed Haruno Amaya. He could see why Takeru wouldn't want to tell Sakura what had killed her mother, but why would he pick such a story? And why would Kushina play along with it? What was going on between those two?

"What are you mumbling about with dead last, Naruto?" Uchiha Sasuke asked as he walked up to join his teammates. The girl visibly shrank into herself at his words, her eyes finding her feet and not leaving them.

"Hey, bastard," Naruto replied. "You shouldn't talk to Sakura-chan like that. We're teammates now, aren't we?"

Sakura glanced up, shock clear in her green eyes as she stared at the blond boy. "Naruto-san?" she asked confusedly. Sasuke just snorted.

Kakashi decided that it was time to put in an appearance. "You aren't where I told you to wait," he said, placing a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. The boy almost jumped out of his shoes, and Kakashi smirked behind his mask.

Sakura let out a quiet 'eep' before saying, "I'm sorry, it was my -"

Naruto interrupted her, pointing at Kakashi in obvious anger. "You're late!" he roared, and Kakashi laughed. Rin would never have been so impolite, although he was sure she'd wanted to scream at Obito more than a few times. 

He lead the three genin back onto the training ground, and gave his usual speech explaining the bell test. None of them seemed to grasp that the one-third failure rate implied by the test was different than the two-thirds rate he'd told them of yesterday, but no genin ever had. Then he waited a moment to see if anyone was going to try a sneak attack before the test officially started. That had happened twice.

No one moved to strike, and Kakashi waved his hand in a vague gesture. "Start," he ordered, and Sakura and Sasuke jumped away to find cover.

He stared blankly at Naruto, then disrupted the replication with a lightning-fast poke of his finger. "You can't forget that replications don't cast shadows, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said chidingly. His eye darted about, quickly locating his students: Sasuke in a tree, Sakura in the underbrush, and Naruto… ah, in the lake, using a hollow reed to breathe. Not bad.

Kakashi waited a few moments, but none of the three genin stirred. "There is a time limit, you remember," he told them, hoping to draw one out, but no one took the bait. He sighed loudly, pulling out a thin, gray volume, and squatted down to read, deliberately putting his back to Naruto's hiding place.

A cloud passed over the sun, and Naruto finally moved, five replications bursting out of the water and surrounding Kakashi. The grass not moving as they passed gave them away, but Kakashi gave him points for patiently waiting until the lack of shadows wouldn't be an issue. He stood, but he didn't put away his book. "Well?" he asked the replications.

One took a step forward, and Kakashi let himself be driven back toward the real Naruto, as though he didn't know the replications were all insubstantial images. In about three seconds… there! The blond boy jumped out of the lake, grabbing Kakashi from behind. The now-useless replications disappeared in clouds of gray smoke. "Got you, Kakashi-sensei!" the boy exclaimed. 

The jounin faked surprise, staying still in his student's grasp. "Your arms are busy," he told Naruto. "How are you going to achieve your objective?" He shook the bells at his hip for emphasis, then flipped to the next page in his book.

"You don't have time to read that!" Naruto shouted, then his foot came up, trying to kick the bells loose of Kakashi. Instead, the jounin slipped out of the hold, grabbing Naruto's foot and tossing him back into the lake.

"Prove it," Kakashi told the sputtering boy as he pulled himself out of the water, then the jounin walked away. He caught the shuriken the boy tossed with two fingers, letting the weapons spin a few moments before slipping them into his pouch. What would the boy try next?

"Catch this," Naruto growled from behind Kakashi, hurling a kunai. Kakashi took his student's advice and smiled behind his mask at the explosive tag dangling from the hilt. It was real, but on a long fuse and not high-power. Naruto wasn't taking the instruction to try and kill him very seriously yet.

So Kakashi used the Replacement Technique, switching places with the boy and leaving the kunai back in his student's hands. He relocated to a treetop over Naruto's head as the boy quickly withdrew his chakra from the tag to defuse it - admirable reflexes and no doubt a testament to Kushina's training, saving Kakashi the trouble of intervening to keep him from getting hurt. He approved, and rewarded the boy by putting his book away, even if Naruto couldn't see it.

He needed to end this, so he could work on the other two - he checked and saw that both were still hidden, watching the fight and no doubt waiting for Kakashi to show an opening. Kakashi deliberately shook one of the bells, letting it ring loudly.

In an instant, Naruto was jumping up into the tree, ascending so quickly Kakashi almost thought that he'd instinctively mastered using chakra to walk up the trunk. When he reached Kakashi, this time the jounin didn't play - much - quickly leaving the boy strung up by his foot, hanging from a low tree branch.

Kakashi jumped to the ground. "Strategy lesson," he said as he looked up at Naruto. "Frontal assaults against superior foes are a good way to lose." The boy grumbled something at that, but Kakashi's attention was on the hidden Sasuke as he deliberately left an opening for the other boy to exploit.

In came in a swarm of kunai, easily evaded with the Replacement Technique, but Kakashi grinned as he saw that the Uchiha had taken the real bait. Another kunai had severed the rope holding Naruto, dropping the blond roughly on the ground, and the two boys had quickly moved back into the trees. Kakashi could almost make out a muttered strategy session going on between the two, and he smiled. Three times, two of his genin had teamed up, but that was the easy part, since there were two bells.

It was adding the third team member which was critical. With that thought in mind, Kakashi turned his attention to Sakura. "You want to come out, Sakura-kun?" he asked loudly, ringing the bells at his side. Instead the girl faded further back into the woods. Kakashi thought for a moment, then pulled out his book and followed. Let the boys have some privacy to prepare a battleground.

A few minutes later, Kakashi found the pink-haired girl perched on a low tree branch, all her attention focused on her teacher as he walked past below. Sakura slowly drew a kunai. Kakashi helpfully paused, turning a page in his book. It still took the girl too long to attack, and the throw was ill-aimed. It would have only scratched Kakashi's arm.

Instead, Kakashi disappeared without even a puff of smoke, drawing a startled gasp from Sakura. He landed on the branch next to her, his eye still focused on his book. "Looking for someone, Sakura-kun?" he asked calmly.

His student scrambled away, pressing her back to the tree trunk. "A… a replication? But the shadow and the -"

"Genjutsu," Kakashi decided to explain. "But it could have also been a water replication, or a dozen other things." He flipped another page.

Sakura's eyes followed the motion, and then her hands twitched. "Is… is that… an…"

"An advance reading copy of the next Gutsy Shinobi book?" Kakashi finished for her. Well, she had listed reading as one of her likes. "Yep. You're a fan?" The girl nodded, staring hungrily at the slim, gray volume. "Maybe I'll let you borrow it when I'm done, if you answer a question."

"Sir?"

"You said you didn't have a dream, but what you meant was that you didn't have one anymore, right, Sakura-kun?" Kakashi asked. "So what was your dream, hmm?" He let his eye lazily wander over her. "The dream you decided to abandon when you found out the truth."

Sakura was silent for a long while, and Kakashi wondered if the direct approach had been the wrong one to take. "My dream?" she asked quietly. "Why do you care?"

"I don't really," Kakashi lied. "But there's this form I have to fill out when I evaluate a team, you see."

"I… my dream," Sakura said, not looking at Kakashi, "was… to become a strong kunoichi of the Leaf, a hero, so my father and my mother would be proud of me, and no one would hate me anymore." She looked up, her eyes wet. "But that's never going to happen, is it?"

"Not if you fail here," Kakashi said, letting the bells at his side jingle. "Are you going to try to pass?" he asked.

Sakura visibly steeled herself, then jumped at him, a clumsy attempt that Kakashi didn't have to try to avoid. She sailed past him, landing on the ground in an awkward roll. Kakashi sighed, putting away his book and jumping down to stand in front of her. "Low marks, Sakura-kun."

"Does it matter?" she asked as she stood. She looked away from him again. "You're a jounin. There's nothing I could do to get a bell unless you let me. And you aren't going to, are you?"

"Nope," Kakashi agreed easily. At least she was thinking about things. Maybe with a push she'd figure out the test. Combat skills could be learned easily enough. The ability to see underneath the underneath was harder to teach.

"Are you going to let Sasuke-kun and Naruto-san get them?"

"No one is going to pass this test unless they earn it," Kakashi answered her.

Sakura looked at her feet. "I understand," she said, "what this test is really about."

Kakashi let his eye widen. "Oh, really?" he asked slowly. "Why don't you explain it for the class, Sakura-kun?"

"It… it isn't hard, Hatake-sama," the girl answered. "This is… supposed to be a three-man team, but the test is set up so only two can pass."

"So it is," Kakashi agreed, as though that had never occurred to him. "I wonder why that is?" he asked thoughtfully. She was so close, tantalizing so.

"Please… please don't mock me," Sakura said, and Kakashi noticed her struggling to hold back tears. "I… I might be dead last, but I'm not stupid."

"I know you aren't," Kakashi agreed. "So what have you figured out?"

Sakura was silent for a moment. "I'll… I'll spare us both from wasting any more time," she said. Then in one smooth motion she untied her forehead protector from around her head and held it out to Kakashi. In all the times he had taken a team, a part of him noted, this had never happened. "Here," she said. "I… I probably never deserved this anyway."

Kakashi didn't move, but he silently cursed himself. He'd misjudged the girl, and now she thought… damn it. It was a reasonable enough assumption, wasn't it? And a little closer to his private thoughts than he was comfortable with, knowing what his teacher had wanted for the poor girl.

When he didn't move to take the forehead protector, Sakura let it drop to the ground and bowed stiffly. "I… I understand why you don't want to teach something like me. Thank you for not embarrassing me in front of… Sasuke-kun and Naruto-san. This was a… fair way." She bowed again. "Goodbye, Hatake-sama." She turned and started away.

Kakashi bent down and picked up her forehead protector. The old man had said she knew the truth, but it didn't look like she understood it, not on an emotional level at least. Takeru had said she wasn't taking it well, but… 'something like me?' Damn it all to a thousand hells, the girl thought that she was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!

He could almost feel his teacher's disapproving gaze resting on him. He'd really screwed this up, hadn't he? The forehead protector in Kakashi's hand felt like it weighed a ton. "I'll fix this, Sensei," he promised. "Somehow."

Then he moved. The first step would be another genjutsu, to direct Sakura's path back toward the boys. They were probably the last people she wanted to see, but they were also the best chance he had of salvaging this. If there was enough of Rin - and his parents - in Naruto. If Sasuke wasn't too much like a younger Kakashi, if his uncaring facade was just that… 

If, Kakashi realized with a sinking feeling, this team was the first in all the years he'd been taking teams to deserve to pass this test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I didn't really intend for this chapter to be Kakashi-focused, but it turned out to be the most useful point of view to avoid redoing scenes we've all read too many times. I still wound up doing the eleven-billionth Bell Test sequence, but that one's tougher to cut out.
> 
> 2) A bonus point to everyone who catches this chapter's nod in the direction of Soul Voice. Points may be redeemed for absolutely nothing.
> 
> 3) My thanks go to everyone at The Fanfiction Forum, Space Battles, and the FFML who commented on various drafts of this chapter.
> 
> Draft Started: July 12, 2011  
> Draft Finished: July 23, 2011  
> Draft Released: July 24, 2011  
> Final Released: August 13, 2011


	3. Teammates

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case… oh, forget it.

* * *

Naruto studied the trap for a moment, then moved one of the trio of explosive tags a fraction of an inch closer to the other two. Keeping a small flow of chakra moving through the safety seals with one hand, he began to brush dirt lightly over the pressure-activated tags with the other. Was it enough to fool Kakashi? Almost certainly not, if he wasn't distracted.

"Hurry up," Sasuke complained from a safe distance behind Naruto. "Dead last isn't going to keep Kakashi-sensei busy for much longer."

"I told you not to call her that, bastard," Naruto griped back at his friend, not speeding up in the slightest. Haste and explosive tags did not make a pleasant combination.

"You're one to talk," Sasuke replied. "I have a name, you know."

"Stop being a bastard to people, and I'll use it, too," Naruto stated reasonably. "Now stop distracting me. If I screw up the positioning, the resonance will mess up the timing and there's no way we'll catch a jounin."

Naruto could almost feel the other boy shake his head. "How the hell you can do all that and still fail every single math test, I'll never know."

The blond grinned as he finished hiding the seals. "Math tests don't explode," he commented. Then he stopped the flow of chakra and jumped backward, getting out of range before the safety seals deactivated. "Done." He grinned, turning to face the other boy. "Don't step there."

Sasuke grunted. "Now we just have to find Kakashi-sensei and get him back here."

"He'll be here soon enough, I bet," Naruto observed. This was a test, after all. Once he'd finished with Naruto he'd gone after Sakura. That meant Sasuke had to be next. "You want me out or hidden?"

Sasuke let out a quiet "Hmm," as he thought. "He knows we're working together," he said, "since I rescued you." He paused. "That means you owe me. We're going somewhere other than Ichiraku tonight when we celebrate passing."

"Bastard," Naruto said cheerfully.

"No point in you trying to hide from him," Sasuke said. "That might just make him realize we're doing more than just trying to gang up on him."

"All right," Naruto agreed. The pair were silent a moment. "Barbeque?" Naruto asked.

"Works," Sasuke grunted, and there was another silence as they waited.

"This test sucks," Naruto complained. "What the hell is up with only two people passing? That's a shitty way to start off a team."

"If he comes back with only one bell," Sasuke said, "I'm not letting you have it." He snorted. "Not that that's likely. She's not even going to touch one, not if you couldn't."

Naruto frowned. "You don't have to be so mean," he said. "What's she ever done to you?"

Sasuke gave him a puzzled look. "Nothing, but it's the truth. What the hell do you care? She hates you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "But I don't hate her." He paused, searching for words.

"You don't have a crush on Haruno, do you?" Sasuke asked disgustedly. "Come on."

"That's not it," Naruto said. "But… you should be nicer to her. She's our teammate."

"Not for much longer," Sasuke said. He snorted.

Naruto sighed, glancing at where his trap was hidden. "I suppose," he said. "But you don't have to be mean."

"Why do you care?" Sasuke asked again.

"She… my family owes hers a debt," Naruto said. His mother had told him that, years ago when he'd first mentioned Sakura's name to her and she'd asked him to invite the pink-haired girl over for dinner. Now that he knew what that debt was, he wasn't surprised at her refusal. He would have to convince Hinata to forgive Sakura for shunning him, he realized. She'd had good enough reason. "One I'm not sure can be repaid."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment. "Oh, hell no. You're not planning on giving her your bell, are you?" When Naruto didn't answer, the other boy punched him in the shoulder.

"Hey," Naruto protested.

"Idiot," Sasuke said. "Do you think that's going to work? This is a test of skill; why do you even think Kakashi-sensei is going to care what you do with your bell once we get them off of him?"

Naruto hadn't considered that. "I can still try," he said.

"I won't let you," Sasuke said. Before he could say anything more, both boys looked up.

"Someone's coming," Naruto said unnecessarily. He took a step backward, watching as Sasuke moved into position. The Uchiha would engage Kakashi and lure him onto the trap Naruto had prepared. When the explosions disoriented him, Naruto would catch the jounin with his technique, which would give them a chance to grab the bells. It was a simple enough plan.

He didn't expect it to be Sakura that slowly walked onto the battleground they'd prepared, staring at her own feet and seemingly not paying any attention to where she was going. "Oh, it's you," Sasuke said, relaxing from the battle stance he'd fallen into.

The pink-haired girl looked up in surprise, apparently having not noticed either boy, but didn't quite meet the Uchiha's eyes as she stammered out his name. Naruto blinked, pointing at her. "Sakura-chan, your forehead protector! Where is it?" A transformation with a deliberate flaw? Would Kakashi be so obvious? Sasuke immediately tensed, realizing the same possibility.

Sakura looked away from the boys. "I… gave it to Hatake-sama."

"But that's the symbol that you've become a…" Naruto trailed off as he realized what her action meant.

"He failed you?" Sasuke asked. "Did he say whether we still had to get the bells?" Naruto shot the other boy a glare that he ignored.

"I gave up." Sakura didn't look up. "I think you still have to get the bells, Sasuke-kun," she answered the second question quietly. "Good… good luck. I need to go home." She took a step forward.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sakura-chan, don't -" It was too late, and Naruto moved without thinking, tackling the girl and shielding her with his body as the trap detonated. The force of the blast sent him flying, dust and debris slamming into his back with a force stronger than ten of Sasuke's punches. He landed hard, on top of Sakura, the wind knocked out of him.

He could hear Sasuke's muttered curse and his footsteps as he ran up to where Naruto and Sakura lay, but for the moment all the blond's concern was on the girl. "You okay, Sakura-chan?" he asked. He tried to hide the wince of pain as he spoke. Had he broken something?

"I'm… I'm not hurt," she said haltingly. Naruto managed to roll himself off of her, and Sakura pushed herself away, sitting up as Sasuke reached them.

"Idiots," the Uchiha snarled as he bent down over Naruto. "How bad?" he asked curtly.

Naruto found a pain-killer in his pouch and swallowed the pill. "Been worse," he said as he managed to sit up himself.

"Why?" Naruto almost didn't hear the whispered question, and he turned to Sakura to find the girl almost curled up into a ball, arms wrapped around her legs.

"Ah, sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, forcing a grin on his face. "We should have warned you. It's a trap we set for -"

"Why did you save me?" she asked, interrupting.

Sasuke let out a half-amused, half-irritated sound. "This idiot would probably have leapt in to save Kakashi-sensei if he faked fear."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Gee, thanks, bastard."

"Hmm, I'll have to remember that," Kakashi said cheerfully.

"Gah!" Naruto would have jumped up in surprise if the movement hadn't started to hurt so much. He turned to see the jounin perched on a low tree limb. Sakura's forehead protector dangled from one hand. In the other he held open that stupid book. Why did everyone think he had to be a fan of that series just because the title character shared his name?

Sasuke was moving, running toward the tree, but Kakashi stopped him, closing the book and sticking it under his arm before holding up his now-empty hand in a warding gesture. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," he said, his voice suddenly cold and hard. "Your mission objectives have changed."

"Huh?" Naruto asked. The bells no longer rested on Kakashi's hip, he realized. 

Kakashi pointed at Sakura. The girl made a distressed sound and stood on shaky legs, backing herself up against a tree trunk. She was absolutely terrified, Naruto realized. "Your teammate," Kakashi said, "has chosen to abandon the mission and desert. Kill her, and you'll become genin."

Sakura let out a frightened moan. "The hell?" Naruto asked, forcing himself to stand. "Do you think we're in Bloody Mist or something, you one-eyed…" Bastard wasn't the right word. Sasuke was a bastard sometimes. This Kakashi was just… "Trash," Naruto finished. Sasuke was tense, Naruto could tell, but he didn't move and all his attention was focused on their so-called teacher.

Kakashi almost seemed amused for a second, but he was all business as he dropped down to the ground. "I suppose I'll take care of it myself if you don't have the guts." He took a step forward. "Once I'm done disposing of the corpse, we can restart the test with just you two."

Naruto took a deliberate step over to stand in front of Sakura. "Run," he told her. "Go to the hospital. Find my mom. She'll stop this."

"Y… your mother…"

"Just do it!" Naruto snapped. Then there was a feeling of terrible pressure, forcing him too his knees. Sakura collapsed behind him, moaning again. "This… is a jounin's killing intent?" Naruto asked. "I'm not impressed."

"Be silent, brat," Kakashi said coldly.

"Katon: Great Fireball Technique!" The jounin leapt away, seconds before the massive, rolling ball of flame would have incinerated him. "I'm your opponent," Sasuke said, his voice matching their teacher's chill.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the jounin stated, taking his stupid book out from under his arm and slipping it back into his pouch, "defending a missing ninja. I'm surprised."

Sasuke almost shook. "Don't make a mockery of the damage done by real traitors, by comparing dead last there with them." His hands started to move through more seals.

Kakashi was behind him. "I suppose it is your turn," he allowed, before striking out with one hand, Sakura's forehead protector snapping at the Uchiha like a whip.

Sasuke rolled away from the blow, but then Kakashi was behind him again. "You can't let your opponent keep on attacking from the rear," their teacher chided, forming a seal.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted the impotent warning, stumbling forward. Then he was wincing in sympathy as the other boy went flying. That technique was… that was just cruel.

Kakashi ignored Sasuke's pained moans, turning back to Naruto. "Stand aside, Naruto-kun," he ordered, his voice perhaps a fraction softer.

"Fuck you, trash," Naruto said, drawing a kunai. He glanced back at Sakura, who was standing still, frozen. "Run, Sakura-chan!"

Kakashi was charging, and there was no time to see if she obeyed. Naruto met the jounin, striking out with his kunai. Then he was on the ground, shoved aside like he was nothing at all. "Stay down," Kakashi ordered, as he took another step toward Sakura.

Naruto reached out weakly at one hand, grabbing at Kakashi's foot. The jounin ignored him, then froze. Naruto grinned. "Got you, trash," he snarled. A short length of ethereal chain stretched from his hand, wrapping tightly around Kakashi's ankle. "Ninpou: Chakra Chain Snare." Naruto's other hand froze into a seal.

"This technique," Kakashi said, his head turning to Naruto.

"You can't move normally, can you?" Naruto said. "And even your chakra is sluggish, isn't it? This is the strength of the Uzumaki Clan." He grinned. "Now, Sasuke!" The jounin's eye widened a fraction of an inch, and then the Uchiha was upon him.

Kakashi's reactions were slowed, but he was able to lean away, dodging the first strike of Sasuke's kunai. Naruto poured more chakra into his technique, and Sasuke's second blow struck home, the blade shoving through Kakashi's armored jacket. It wasn't a killing strike, but it would be enough to slow the jounin down so they could get Sakura to safety.

The jounin vanished in a puff of smoke. "A replication?" Naruto asked aloud, letting his technique drop.

"It was physical," Sasuke snarled. "I felt it!"

"It's called a shadow replication," Kakashi stated as he appeared, looming over the two boys. Another wave of killing intent swept over them, vastly more powerful than what Naruto had felt before, driving even Sasuke to his knees. "Give up now," he ordered, "and this disloyalty can stay a secret between us."

Sasuke answered before Naruto could, stealing the words. "Fuck you." The Uchiha struggled, but wasn't able to stand under the pressure of Kakashi's power.

The jounin sighed, placing one hand over his face. "Ah, the paperwork once I've killed you three is going to be such a pain," he griped. "Last chance, boys."

Naruto managed to get up on one knee. "I'm not going to give up, you piece of trash." 

Sasuke grunted with effort as he tried again to stand. "You set… a test she couldn't pass," he said. "A wall that couldn't be overcome." His face twisted. "And you want to kill her for recognizing her limits?"

"Stop it!" Sakura's high-pitched, panicked screech made Naruto wince. Why hadn't she run? The girl, apparently not hindered by Kakashi's killing intent, stepped forward, past Naruto. "This isn't… Sasuke-kun, Naruto-san, I'm not worth…" She trailed off, and then she looked up at Kakashi, meeting his eye. "Just… just make it quick, Hatake-sama. And don't punish them. They don't -"

"Shut the fuck up!" Naruto roared, a burst of energy propelling him to his feet. "And run! This is our choice! You're our teammate, aren't you? What the hell does it make us if we just let you get killed?"

"I'm not worth -"

"He said to shut up," Sasuke growled.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura breathed.

Kakashi's killing intent redoubled, and Naruto fell back to his knees, joined an instant later by Sakura. Dark clouds suddenly filled the sky. This had to be a genjutsu, but Naruto couldn't move to try to dispel it. "There's a word," Kakashi said ominously, "for ninja like you, who don't follow the rules. That word is trash. 

"But ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash. You three, all of you, pass." The clouds broke suddenly, the killing intent vanishing. The sun shone brightly, birds singing a glorious chorus that had to be another genjutsu.

Naruto felt like he wanted to puke from the sudden change. "What?" he managed to ask.

"I think this is yours, Sakura-chan," Kakashi said cheerfully, tossing the forehead protector he still held at her.

She almost fumbled the catch. "But -" she began.

"You said only two could pass," Sasuke growled.

"Ninja have to look underneath the underneath," Kakashi stated. "The purpose of the test was to force you to demonstrate true teamwork. Not the easy kind, where you can all work together for mutual gain. The hard kind, where you have to sacrifice something for your comrades." He held up the two bells in one hand, and let them jingle for a moment. "Whether it's a chance at personal advancement," he said, "or your lives." He paused. "That is the test, that no team I have taken until now has passed."

Sakura swallowed. "Then," she said quietly, staring at the forehead protector in her hands. "I wasn't… the target?"

Kakashi's face moved behind his mask into an obvious smile. "Of course not, Sakura-chan. You, all three of you, are my cute little students. Not only two." The jounin was silent for a moment, then added, "I apologize for being so cruel."

"I…" Sakura trailed off. Then she slowly tied her forehead protector around her head again.

"I take it back," Naruto said. "You're not trash. You're just a slightly bigger bastard than Sasuke."

"Thanks a ton, idiot," Sasuke said dryly. "Just for that, you're paying tonight."

Kakashi actually let out a soft laugh. "Team Seven," he said formally. "Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto. Congratulations. We'll meet back here at eight tomorrow morning for our first official mission." A roaring wind kicked up a swirl of leaves, and then the jounin was gone.

  


* * *

  


This time, Hatake Kakashi entered the meeting room on the second floor of the Hokage Tower through the door. He ignored everyone's stares as he made his way over and took one of the two empty seats at the end of the table, next to the Yuuhi woman. He gave the fresh jounin an amiable nod before turning his attention on the Hokage, who sat at the other end of the table.

The old man took a puff on his ever-present pipe and then let out a long, slow breath. A ring of smoke floated overhead for a moment before the air conditioning dispersed it. "Kakashi-kun," he said in greeting.

"You're… precisely on time," Sarutobi Asuma said, his eyes narrow as he sat next to his father. "Who are you, and what did you do to Sharingan Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave the other man a shrug. "I said I found a shortcut," he explained. Asuma snorted. "Shall we begin, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"We're still waiting on one more," the Hokage said. "I think we can give a her a couple minutes, at least. Don't you agree, Kakashi-kun?" Kakashi just shrugged again.

It was only a minute and a half later that the door flung open and a disheveled blonde kunoichi stumbled inside and almost fell into the last empty chair, next to Kakashi. "You're late, Yamanaka-kun," Kakashi complained.

He almost shook under the force of the woman's killing intent. "I… I will end you," Yamanaka Haruka promised. "I swear it. After I kill those brats."

Kakashi just winked at her.

The Hokage coughed once. "Let's begin, shall we?" he asked gently. "Before I have to call in ANBU guards to arrest anyone." He paused. "We'll go in reverse team number order. Asuma-kun?"

The younger Sarutobi nodded once. "As ordered, I have evaluated provisional Team Ten," he stated formally. "I am pleased to inform you that they have passed my test, and I recommend that Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino be enlisted as active genin under my name of Sarutobi Asuma." No surprises there.

"Very well," the Hokage said. "Haruka-kun."

The blonde woman next to Kakashi groaned. "As ordered, I have evaluated provisional Team Nine," she said, "and regret to inform you that they have failed my test. I recommend that they be enlisted in the Inuzuka kennels for remedial obedience training." There were a few chuckles at that.

"I'll have to see about that, Haruka-kun," the Hokage said, not quite hiding his own amusement. "But I think we can at least manage six months at the secondary academy." He shook his head for a moment, then prompted, "Kurenai-kun?"

"As ordered," the younger woman on Kakashi's other side began, "I have evaluated provisional Team Eight. I am pleased to inform you that they have passed my test, and I recommend that Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba be enlisted as active genin under my name of Yuuhi Kurenai."

In other circumstances, a fresh jounin passing her first provisional team might have been regarded as soft. But the Hokage had effectively hand-picked that team for her, so no one said anything. If they were smart, they didn't think it either. The Hokage only nodded, clearly not surprised. "Kakashi-kun?" he asked. There was a ripple of sighs down the table.

Kakashi smirked behind his mask. "As ordered, I have evaluated provisional Team Seven," he said, then paused for dramatic effect. "I am pleased to inform you that they have passed my test, and I recommend that Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto be enlisted as active genin under my name of Hatake Kakashi."

A few moments later, Kakashi searched the pouches of his armored jacket for a pin, then surreptitiously let it drop to the wooden floor. He was pleased to note that he could hear it perfectly. "Fuck," one of the other jounin said, "Asuma-san was right. He is an impostor."

The Hokage just nodded, puffing on his pipe. "Very well," he said simply. "Daikoku-kun?"

Kakashi wondered if this was what Gai felt like.

  


* * *

  


After Kakashi left his team, there was a brief, awkward silence. Sakura stayed on her knees, feeling the weight of her forehead protector on her head once more. Had the jounin really meant it? He'd called her one of his 'cute little students' and even apologized for being cruel to her. Had this all really been some kind of mind game that he would have used any dead last student for? Was it really possible that he didn't hate her?

Sakura tried to focus on that possibility, tried to ignore the hand she kept pressed to her stomach, and most of all tried to ignore the slowly fading burning sensation churning in her gut. The fire that had started building from the instant the one-eyed jounin had proclaimed the order to kill her as a missing ninja. The same rage she had felt when faced with Uzumaki Kushina. She hadn't been able to run, all her willpower focused on forcing down what she now knew had to be the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. 

One thing had helped Sakura in that, she realized. As frightened as she'd been during the test she hadn't noticed, but now she realized that almost none of Kakashi's killing intent had been directed at her. Only at the very end had she felt even a whisper of it, a trickle far less than even what Iruka had put out as a demonstration early in the final year of the academy. Naruto and Sasuke he had pushed to their limits. She had been handled, in retrospect, with extreme care.

Sakura wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it did mean one thing. No matter Kakashi's words, even if he'd truly meant them, she wasn't just one of his three 'cute little students,' and she never would be. She would never be able to pretend she was just Haruno Sakura. Never again.

The fire in her wasn't growing anymore, and she could feel it start to die down. She could imagine the four-pronged semi-circles fading, then the spiral around her navel. She could, for a little while at least, feel mostly human. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she exhaled the churning power was gone. 

A pained moan from Naruto shook her from her thoughts. The blond boy had flopped over on his back. "Ow ow ow," he said, somehow cheerfully. "It was probably a bad idea to fight Kakashi-sensei like that when I was still hurt from those explosive tags."

"Sorry," Sakura said automatically. 

Naruto sat up suddenly, looking at her. Sakura didn't meet his gaze. "Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan," he said. "It was my fault for not warning you about the trap." He sprang to his feet. "Only bruises, I think, and I'm a fast healer."

A grunt from Sasuke drew Sakura's attention. For a moment, she thought she saw a small smirk on his face, but his expression smoothed quickly. "We're done here," he said, standing. "I'll see you for dinner." He walked off.

"See you, bastard," Naruto called after him, then he turned his attention back to Sakura. "We're getting barbeque for dinner," he stated. "To celebrate. I'm paying, apparently." He paused, and when he spoke again his voice was uncharacteristically hesitant. "You can… if you want… come too."

Sakura just stared at him for a moment, completely unsure how to handle this. There was only one time one of her classmates had ever invited her for dinner. That had been Naruto too, back in their first year at the academy, before her father had told her who had killed her mother and forbidden her from having anything to do with the Uzumaki. He had lifted the restriction on Naruto, now that they were teammates, but…

Naruto's face fell. "I understand," he said quietly, turning to leave himself.

"Wait," Sakura said, before she could stop herself. "Is… will your mother be there?"

"No!" Naruto said quickly. "Just you and me and Sasuke. I promise."

"I'll… I'll come," Sakura said, forcing herself to not pay attention to the worry gnawing at her. A dozen different nightmare scenarios played out in her head, but for some reason they didn't seem as important when Naruto grinned at her.

"All right!" he said, then he named a restaurant Sakura was familiar with, as it lay on the path between her home and the academy. She'd never eaten there before, though; it was far more expensive than the places her father took her on the rare occasions they ate out. "We'll be there at six," he told her, and then he left, saying he needed to go to the hospital.

When she was finally alone, Sakura stood on shaking legs, her head spinning, trying to take in everything that had happened this morning. Naruto was… not who she had built him up to be in her head, over the years of avoiding him. And Sasuke… well, he didn't seem to hate her. She didn't think Ino or Ami or any of the other girls had spent as long with the Uchiha without being called annoying. "Dead last" was just a fact, not a judgment, Sakura told herself.

They'd both tried to save her from Kakashi. They didn't know the truth about her, but that lack of knowledge hadn't stopped the other students at the academy from hating her. Their actions still meant something, even if they were based on ignorance. She had a chance, maybe, of having… not friends, that was probably too much to hope for, but at least comrades, so long as she could keep the truth about herself hidden.

Not wanting to go home and lacking any other refuge, Sakura made her way the the abandoned building in the woods Mizuki had shown her. The Hokage had, after everything was done that evening, returned the key to Sakura along with the rest of her things. It was impossible to see that as anything but permission to keep using the building.

She slipped inside and locked the door behind her. A shiver of fear ran through her as she glanced at the dusty window the man with the snakelike arms had pressed her against, but she forced it away. This was just an empty building. There was nothing here to hurt her. Those thoughts didn't stop one of her hands from going to her pouch to check her weapons. Weapons she wished she'd had that night, even if they weren't likely to have done much good at her skill level.

She froze as her hands brushed up against an unfamiliar shape. Then she pulled out a slim, gray book from her pouch. "Gutsy Shinobi Clash In The Land Of Snow," she read the title aloud. It was the advance reading copy of the new volume Kakashi had been reading! A slip of paper stuck out from between the pages, and Sakura pulled it out.

"Enjoy," it read, and it was signed with a crude sketch of her teacher's masked face. Sakura giggled despite herself.

"When did he -" she began to ask, but she decided the line of inquiry was futile. Kakashi was a jounin. He could have slipped it into her pouch at any time. He could probably even be watching her right now. She shivered at the idea, but both that thought and the darker ones that had driven her to the poor sanctuary left her as she sat down on the floor and started to read. She didn't look up until, halfway through the book, she realized she barely had time to run home and change before she was supposed to meet her teammates for dinner. 

Fortunately, Naruto was waiting for her outside the restaurant, and after a quick exchange of greetings he grabbed her hand and led her inside, barely pausing to say, "My friend already has a table," to the employee manning the door. Sakura didn't miss the familiar look of distaste the man gave her, though. It was harder to bear, now that she knew there was a good reason for it.

Naruto didn't give her time to mope, bringing her to a booth near the back of the restaurant where Sasuke was sitting. The other boy nodded his head in greeting, and Naruto slipped in to sit next to him, leaving the other side of the booth to Sakura. "Hello, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said softly, not quite looking at the object of her crush.

"Sakura-san," the Uchiha returned. The pink-haired girl was reasonably sure it was the first time he'd ever called her by name, and she hated herself for not being able to stop her cheeks from heating. At least the light was dim enough that he might not notice. Sakura reached for the menu set in front of her.

"It'll be cheaper if we order one of the big dishes meant for sharing," Naruto commented. "Unless you didn't want to order meat?"

"That's fine," Sakura said. She didn't have any objections, and even if she had it would have been rude to protest when Naruto was treating. A waiter came over to take their order a few minutes later. He favored Sakura with a hostile glare as he left, one that was far too obvious to hope the boys hadn't noticed.

"You know him?" Sasuke asked, his voice cold. Sakura mutely shook her head.

"He didn't even ask what you wanted to drink," Naruto said angrily. "I've half a mind -" Sasuke interrupted him with an amused sound. "Not now," Naruto told the other boy, still irritated-sounding. "I'm going to go and -"

"Don't," Sakura made herself say. "It's not important. I'll ask for some water when the food comes."

"If you say so," Naruto replied dubiously. The three new genin were silent for a few moments, until Naruto took it upon himself to start the conversation again. "So, what do you think our mission tomorrow will be like?"

Glad that the topic of the waiter's reaction to her was left behind and hopeful to keep it there, Sakura replied with a textbook recitation of the definition of a D-rank mission. Somehow, this turned into the start of a much larger discussion of what being a genin might really be like, beyond what they'd learned in classes. Really, it was Naruto who did most of the talking, with only occasional interjections from Sasuke. Sakura mainly kept quiet, although Naruto kept trying to draw her back into the conversation.

Predictably, it was also the blond who first realized that it had been over half an hour and they hadn't seen or heard from their waiter. "This is ridiculous," he said, and he managed to wave over a passing waitress and explain the situation. The woman didn't seem to recognize Sakura, and she promised to find out what had happened.

A few minutes later, a large, rotund man walked up to their table, followed by the waitress. He wore a Leaf forehead protector around one massive arm, and his face was grim. Sakura shrank back, certain she was about to get kicked out of the restaurant. How would she explain that to Naruto and Sasuke?

"Sirs, ma'am," the man said politely, inclining his head at each of them in turn. "I apologize for the poor service you have received. Some very foolish members of my staff managed to misplace your order. Keiko here will take your order, which will be on the house, and I will ensure it gets to you as soon as possible. You have my word that this will not happen again."

Naruto nodded at him. "Thank you," he said, as though this was a perfectly ordinary reaction to his complaint. Which it probably was, when you were perfectly ordinary.

"Again, you have my deepest apologies," the man said, and then he bowed once before leaving.

  


* * *

  


Uzumaki Kushina let a small smile appear on her face, glad that the situation had been resolved without needing intervention. She'd always liked both Akimichi Hiro and his restaurant, and it would have been a terrible shame to be forced to stop coming here. Naruto had been apologetic when, after getting out of the hospital, she'd offered to take him and Sasuke out for dinner to celebrate their passing Kakashi's test. He'd explained that they'd already made plans, and that he'd needed to promise Sakura that she wouldn't be there. 

Kushina had been happy enough that he and Sasuke seemed to be getting along with their teammate that she wouldn't have been offended even if Sakura didn't have every right in the world to detest her. It had only taken a little convincing, and a little rant on the horribleness of hospital food, for Naruto to accept that Kushina eating by herself in the same restaurant wouldn't be breaking his promise. Fortunately, she'd managed to get a table behind where Sakura had sat, far enough away that she wasn't concerned about the girl noticing her but close enough that she could keep an eye on the new genin team.

Kushina took a bite of her - predictably excellent - meat, and didn't look up as someone sat at her table across from her. "Hello, Kakashi-kun."

"Kushina-sama," Kakashi replied. "I'm glad to see they let you out so quickly."

She shrugged. "Like I told you, it wasn't anything major. I just pushed myself too hard." It still was vexing that channeling such a tiny amount of chakra pushed her past her limits. Kushina wasn't sure whether or not she was glad that, even after twelve years, she hadn't forgotten what it had felt like to be whole. She glanced over the man's shoulder at her son's team. "Haruno, Uchiha, and Uzumaki, huh?" she said. "It's a little nostalgic."

A waiter appeared to ask Kakashi if he would be ordering anything, but the masked jounin waved the man away. "I'm sure Naruto told you I passed them," he said, inclining his head back at the genin.

"First words out of his mouth," Kushina replied. "How did it go? All I really got out him was that you're apparently the biggest bastard of a teacher in the whole world." Kushina let herself snicker, even though she knew her laugh sounded pained and ugly. The bell test made for such great first impressions.

She could tell that Kakashi smiled slightly behind his mask before smoothing his expression. "He's not totally wrong," Kakashi said quietly. "I screwed up pretty badly."

"What happened?" Kushina asked, blinking. Naruto hadn't gone into any real details, but he hadn't seemed overly upset.

"I didn't properly consider the mentality of my students," Kakashi said. "Haruno-kun thought that the bell test was a ploy to get her off the team so I wouldn't have to teach her, and she decided to preempt me by quitting."

Kushina stiffened. "She what?"

"I managed to salvage things, somehow," Kakashi said. "Naruto was a big help. You've raised a fine young man."

"Thank you," Kushina replied automatically.

"I didn't know you'd taught him to use your chakra chains," Kakashi said. "I almost didn't have enough time to swap with a shadow replication before he caught me."

Kushina smiled at that, but she noted that Kakashi seemed tense about something. "Is there something else?" she prompted. She took a drink of water.

Kakashi was hesitant, but he did answer. "You probably already know, Kushina-sama," he said, "But Naruto and Sakura both seem to believe that you killed Haruno Amaya."

Kushina looked down at her half-empty plate. "I know," she said. She hoped that the usual hoarseness of her voice hid her distress. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with Kakashi, but it was probably unavoidable, ever since she'd told Naruto that Sakura was telling the truth. She wouldn't take those words back, though.

"It isn't my place to pry," Kakashi said, "but the Nine-Tails killed Amaya-san."

That had been the cover story, more than believable enough. Enough others had died that way, also her fault. Kushina didn't look up from her meal, but for a moment all she saw was the image of her friend as she'd seen her last, mere hours before everything went to hell. "You're right," Kushina said, more harshly than she intended. "It isn't your place to pry."

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said.

Kushina tried to sigh, but it turned into a cough. "I'm sorry too," she said. "I didn't mean it like that." She paused, searching for the right words and not finding them. "I can't explain," she finally said, weakly. She knew that wouldn't satisfy Kakashi, but there were too many secrets, and not all of them were hers to tell even if she wanted to.

"I see," was all Kakashi said. "I won't ask any further, then."

Kushina forced herself to smile. "Thank you."

"I have to ask, though," Kakashi said. "Is… whatever it is that lies between you and Haruno Takeru-san something I need to worry about hurting their teamwork?"

"Not on my end," was all Kushina could say to that. There was an awkward silence for a while, and Kushina distracted herself by returning to her meal. "I know Sasuke-kun," she finally said when it became clear that it was up to her to keep the conversation going or Kakashi would leave. "How is… what is Sakura-chan like? Do you still think she's a danger to everyone around her?" Kushina regretted the last words as she spoke them, and could only hope Kakashi didn't note her bitterness. He'd had no intention of offending her.

Kakashi didn't answer for several moments. "She's smart," he said, "but her combat skills are bad enough that there's no question that her bottom ranking in the class was a fair assessment. She's quiet, introverted. Severely lacking in self-esteem, beyond what her poor skills merit."

"I see," Kushina said. Was that what she would have become, if everyone had known the truth about her?

"I'm not sure how much of her problem is just her, and how much is… what she recently learned." Kakashi's discomfort was obvious. "You heard Takeru-san say that she wasn't taking it well. I think that's understating the matter."

Kushina swallowed. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi's eye darted about, reminding her that what they were discussing was still a secret to at least the younger generation, in theory. "I… I don't think she really understands that the container is not what it contains, not deep down."

Kushina's heart sank. "I see."

"I wish I knew how to fix that," Kakashi said. "She's already been told, but it clearly didn't sink in." He paused. "I can't help but think Minato-sensei would know what to do." He waited for Kushina to respond, but there was nothing she could say to that. There was nothing she could do, not without breaking her promise to Takeru more than she already had, and no reason to think that the girl would want to hear or believe anything she had to say. Kakashi shook his head. "All I can try to do is to try and build a rapport and treat her like a human being, but for all her obedience I don't think she really trusts anyone not to hurt her except her father, and maybe one of her academy teachers."

"She has good enough reason to feel that way," Kushina said, and it was safe enough to let her anger into her voice. She was almost glad that Minato hadn't had to see how the village treated the girl he'd wished to be seen as a hero. How the village would have treated Kushina herself, if it knew.

"As for your second question," Kakashi said. "She hasn't shown any… instability yet, but she hasn't been pushed either. It isn't her fault, but I'm still concerned." It hurt, that Kakashi - the boy she'd almost seen as a son - could switch so smoothly from saying that he had to treat the girl like a human being to assessing her like an active explosive tag. 

Kushina couldn't deny him the right to be concerned, though. Nor could she let him worry in ignorance, not when the girl could pay the ultimate price. "A certain amount of… leakage," she said, almost without thinking, "is to be expected, as she enters life and death situations for the first time and learns control. If anything, it's beneficial." Kakashi sat up in his seat, a question clearly in his mind, but Kushina answered before he could ask. "I did help to design that seal," she reminded him. That wasn't the source of her knowledge, but it was a good enough excuse.

"Ah," Kakashi said, and thankfully Kushina could read acceptance in his body. He waited for her to continue.

Kushina instead reached into the bag strapped to the side of her wheelchair and pulled out a small paper tag, which she slid across the table to him. Kakashi picked it up and studied it. Kushina knew well what he was looking at - a pair of Reverse Four Image Seals surrounding a counter-clockwise spiral. Further arcane characters would expand on use into a temporary Threefold Crescent Barrier Seal. "If things get out of hand," Kushina said, "you can apply that physically. Ideally over the navel, but anywhere should work. It will interrupt the flow of chakra and suppress any… manifestations. It'll knock her for a loop, though, so don't except her to be able to fight afterward.

"I've only had time to make the one, but I doubt you'll need any until she sees real combat." It was a good thing Naruto had vast chakra reserves for his age, or she would never be able to get enough compatible chakra ink to do any seal work. As it was, she was limited to what she could justify stealing from what he made for practice. "I should have a couple more done before you take on any C-ranks."

Kakashi put the seal tag away. "Thank you," he said. "Do you have any insight into how I can tell when it's getting dangerous?"

"Given what you've told me of her personality," Kushina said, "it should be fairly obvious if she's losing control." She shrugged, and tried to make her next sentence sound like a joke instead of the warning it was. "Beyond that, if she starts growing tails, that's probably a bad sign."

If Kakashi smiled, it was hidden by his mask.

  


* * *

  


Sakura stifled a yawn as she unlocked the back door of her house and slipped inside. After everything that had happened today, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. Between that and the large meal she'd just eaten, Sakura was tired enough that she doubted she would have nightmares tonight. That would be a welcome respite from the past few nights.

"I'm home," Sakura said, and she heard movement from the front of the house. That wasn't surprising, as she'd seen lights on inside the house from the street, so her father had to be home. What was surprising was when she heard another man's murmured voice, answered a moment later by her father's. They had a guest over?

Curiosity warred with tiredness and shyness for a moment, and then Sakura made her way through the small kitchen to the front sitting room of the house. "Welcome home," her father said in greeting, sitting in his favorite, battered old armchair. He'd once said it had been the first piece of furniture her mother and he had purchased together.

Seated on the couch, across from him, was an unfamiliar young, silver-haired man, sipping at a cup of tea. He set it down on the side table and stood, one hand adjusting his glasses. "Ah, this must be Sakura-chan," he said gently.

Who was this man? Sakura glanced at her father nervously, but he gave her a smile. "Sakura-chan, this is Yakushi Kabuto-san, a medic from the hospital. We've been discussing the possibility of taking the Chuunin Exams together in a few months."

Kabuto bowed slightly. "A pleasure to meet you," he said, and he actually sounded like he was telling the truth. "I've already heard rumors that Hatake-sama passed his first genin team ever. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Sakura said automatically.

"Was it the bell test?" Kabuto asked, his voice curious. "Hatake-sama used that trick to fail my second provisional team." He chuckled. "Not that we idiots deserved to pass," he continued as he sat back down.

"It was," Sakura confirmed.

Kabuto shook his head. "I'll have to tell everyone that it wasn't that Hatake-sama's gotten softer, then," he said. "If you're not too tired and Takeru-san doesn't mind the diversion, I'd be interested in hearing how your team passed. I don't think anyone's passed that test since before you or I were born."

The pink-haired girl's eyes widened. Kakashi had mentioned that every team he'd taken on had failed the test, but Sakura hadn't imagined that! Had he been intending to fail them all from the start? Because of her? He'd seemed pleased when they passed though… maybe she was just over-thinking it.

"If you want to, Sakura-chan," he father said, but Sakura could tell that he was curious too. She wasn't sure about talking about it in front of this Kabuto, but he seemed nice enough. She'd just have to be careful about what she said, to avoid letting her secret slip.

Kabuto was seated in the center of the couch, but he moved over to one side as Sakura came over, letting her take the opposite side and keep some distance between them. Both men looked at her, and not comfortable with being the center of attention it took Sakura a few minutes to start.

She knew she wasn't a good storyteller - and she still had nightmares about the handful of times she'd had to do an oral presentation in the academy - but she ultimately managed to stammer out something approximating the events of this morning. Her father's face had turned thunderous when she'd reached Kakashi's order to kill her, but it had smoothed as she continued, and now he had a thoughtful look about him.

Kabuto let out a whistle, and when Sakura turned to look at him his eyes were wide behind his glasses. "Not softer at all," he said. "Quite the opposite. Hatake-sama certainly never threatened us with death."

He reached down to his dark purple pants and pulled a small scroll out from somewhere. "It's traditional to give presents when someone you know is promoted," Kabuto commented. "It's probably overly familiar of me, but passing that test deserves some recognition." He tossed the scroll at Sakura. "Unroll it," he instructed as she caught it.

Sakura obeyed, finding on the scroll a dozen small circles with characters written inside of them. It was a sealing scroll! Each circle was labeled; the scroll contained bandages, antibiotics, painkillers, two different strengths of soldier pill… it was a very extensive first aid kit.

"They're bloodless seals," Kabuto explained, "so you just have to channel a little chakra into them to release the contents, and a little more to put them back in. I'm sure you remember the basics from the academy." He shrugged. "Sticking something new in there is more complicated, but you can ask for me at the hospital when you need refills."

Sakura had never really studied sealing techniques, not after her first days at the academy, but this much seal-work had to be expensive, even ignoring the contents. "This is too much," she said, re-rolling the scroll and holding it out to the young man.

He shook his head. "Sealing is an important part of advanced medical techniques," Kabuto said. "My father's been training me, and I've been making these for practice for the past couple years." He paused, then added. "Actually, whenever you're at the hospital, feel free to ask for me or him - he's the only Yakushi-sensei there. We'll make sure you get what you need." The silver-haired man said the words innocently, but Sakura couldn't help but wonder whether they had another meaning. Was it possible this Kabuto knew what she was and… didn't care?

"This isn't necessary," Sakura's father began.

Kabuto flashed him a grin. "Nonsense, Takeru-san," he said. "We'd pretty much agreed to be teammates, hadn't we? That means that anyone who is important to you is important to me." He smiled, glancing at Sakura. "How does Hatake-sama put it again?" he asked. "Ninja who don't watch out for their allies -"

"Ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash," Sakura answered, and then she yawned uncontrollably.

Kabuto laughed. "I think I should head on out, so your daughter can get to sleep, Takeru-san," he said. "It's getting late."

Sakura's father nodded and stood. "I'll speak with Tsubaki-chan tomorrow and ask if she's interested in being our third. I think she will be; she asked me if I wanted to take the exam with her the last time it was held here."

"I'll look forward to meeting her, then," Kabuto said as he rose. "Good night, Sakura-chan. I'm glad I had the chance to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I decided the end of the last chapter was a bad place to leave the story, so I decided to work on this one before the next chapter of One Hundred Weeks.
> 
> 2) In addition to my needing to work on that story, the next chapter of this one may be delayed until I decide precisely what I'm going to do for Team Seven's first C-rank mission instead of yet another rehash of the Wave Country arc. We'll see.
> 
> 3) As always, my thanks go to everyone at The Fanfiction Forum and Space Battles for their comments on the draft of this chapter.
> 
> Draft Started: July 27, 2011  
> Draft Finished: August 06, 2011  
> Draft Released: August 07, 2011  
> Final Released: August 28, 2011


	4. Fractures

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case… oh, forget it.

* * *

Kakashi arrived to Team Seven's morning meeting a few minutes less than an hour after it was scheduled. On one of the pages of the pink notebook Sakura kept her personal notes in, she'd been tracking the times of her teacher's arrival for the past week, wondering if she could discern a pattern. Her hypothesis for today had been that the one-eyed man would be seventy-two minutes late. Clearly, her theory required adjustment.

Sakura was seated with her back against a tree, having been watching Naruto and Sasuke lightly spar, and after a month she was used enough to the routine that she didn't wait for a gesture from Kakashi to stand up and join her teammates in front of him. After Naruto's customary outrage at Kakashi's tardiness, the man pulled a scroll out from on of the pouches on his armored vest, gently tossing it a few inches in the air. "I wasn't planning on doing a mission today, but Hokage-sama had this one delivered," he announced as he caught the scroll. "So let's get it out of the way first thing so we can get to training."

Beside Sakura, Naruto grinned widely. "So, what is it?" he asked. "Dog-walking?" Kakashi said nothing. "Weeding? Or are we lucky enough to…" He trailed off as the cloth of Kakashi's mask wrinkled into a clear smile. "Yes!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It seems," Kakashi began, his mask smoothing, "that the pet cat of our esteemed guest, Shijimi-dono, has managed to run away. Again." Sasuke grunted like he'd been punched, while Naruto began to dance. Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from giggling, though she quieted quickly, hopefully before Sasuke noticed. "And Shijimi-dono has requested our services specifically. Again. You three know what to do. Meet me back here in an hour."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand. "Come on, bastard! Let's go fetch Tora-chan! This is the best D-rank ever!"

"For you maybe," Sasuke grumbled, but he didn't resist as Naruto pulled him away.

Sakura accepted the mission scroll from Kakashi, then trailed after the pair of boys as they left the training ground. She glanced backward at their teacher, and she thought she noticed a hint of a smirk behind Kakashi's cloth mask before he vanished in a swirl of wind-borne leaves. Sakura smiled herself, then sped up slightly to avoid falling too far behind her teammates and losing them in the rush of morning traffic.

She caught up with them before they turned onto one of the village's main streets, one of the few that traveled in a straight line for more than a few hundred yards, leading straight from the main gates to the grand arena where the Chuunin Exams were held every few years. "Check the scroll, dead last," Sasuke ordered as she drew near. "Maybe that old woman finally decided to go for assassination mission instead."

"I kind of doubt that, bastard," Naruto replied, "and I've told you a hundred times to stop calling Sakura-chan that."

Sasuke just grunted, and Sakura was glad he was respectful enough of her feelings to not say the accurate response she'd overheard a few times when the boys had the same discussion in private: "It's true, isn't it?"

Naruto still seemed to catch the sentiment at least as well as Sakura did, a brief flash of anger passing over his face before he turned to the pink-haired girl. "I'll hold this bastard still," he offered, "so you can hit him like he deserves." Sakura flushed, and Sasuke just rolled his dark eyes and sped up until he was walking a few yards ahead of them.

"That's… that's not necessary, Naruto-san," Sakura said, struggling to keep her embarrassment from showing further. Hitting Sasuke? Just because he'd called her something mild like 'dead last?' Even if he wasn't, well, Sasuke, that was hardly appropriate. Although the thought of doing that to Ino or Ami… in some fantasy world where the inevitable brutal retaliation didn't exist…

"You don't have to be so formal, you know, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as they turned off the main thoroughfare, shaking Sakura from her musings. "We're teammates, after all."

Sakura swallowed at that. It was true, she supposed, and she knew it was stupid to hold what his mother had done against Naruto when they had to be teammates. He'd been nice to her over the past month; he'd been more than nice really. It was just… she didn't know if she could handle calling the son of the woman who'd killed her mother "Naruto-kun" even if he probably deserved it. "I," Sakura began, but she wasn't sure what she intended to say. It would be horribly rude, she thought, to insist on the more formal address.

Not for the first time, Naruto seemed to be able to read her feelings better than Sakura herself. "I understand," he said. A dark look fell over his face, but it wasn't directed at her. "Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. Forget I said anything."

Sasuke stopped outside a small, wooded park, within sight of the walled mansion the Fire Daimyo used when he visited the Leaf Village. He turned to face Naruto and Sakura as he waited for them to catch up. "What's with that look?" he asked Naruto.

"Nothing," Naruto said with a wave of his hand, a cheery smile appearing on his face. "Let's do this thing!" he exclaimed.

"I… I really should check the scroll first," Sakura said. "In case there are any changes from last time."

"Do it then," Sasuke said with a grunt.

Sakura opened the scroll and scanned it quickly. "It looks like normal," she said.

"All right, then," Naruto said. "Sakura-chan and I will go wait over at those benches like normal, then, while you do your broody thing."

There was utter silence for a moment. "My… broody thing?" Sasuke finally rumbled.

"You know," Naruto said. "That… thing you do, that drives all the girls - and apparently girl cats - wild." He looked at Sakura. "Can you explain how that works? Because I sure can't."

If Sakura's face had been red earlier, it surely had to be incandescent now. "I… I… I couldn't say," she managed to squeak out. Not that Naruto was wrong, but to try and explain it? While Sasuke himself was listening?

"Thank the Sage for small mercies," Sasuke said, and then he sighed. "Go. Let's get this over with."

"Have fun brooding," Naruto said, and then he took Sakura's arm and pulled her away. She let him, knowing from painful experience that Tora would go wild if she got too close. Which probably just made the cat more perceptive than Naruto or Sasuke, but Sakura didn't want to dwell on that.

Naruto plopped down on one of the benches he'd indicated earlier, along the roadside, and Sakura sat down next to him, keeping an eye on Sasuke as he went a little ways further into the park. She had to admit, this was possibly the most pleasant D-rank of them all. "What I said earlier," the blond boy said suddenly while they watched Sasuke lean against a tree. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. Couldn't he just let matters lie? "Don't… don't worry about it, Naruto-san," she told him.

"I just… I know it can't be made up, what… what my mom did." Naruto looked away. "But… I just want…" he trailed off, for once seeming as unable to find words as he often left Sakura.

"I understand," Sakura said after a moment.

Naruto looked at Sakura again for a few seconds, before dropping his gaze to the ground. "Would… would you prefer if I didn't call you Sakura-chan?" he asked quietly.

A month ago, Sakura would have said yes in an instant, certain that the address was mocking. Now, though? She… she could give Naruto that much, even if the familiarity did make her a little uncomfortable. "No," she said, "it's fine."

Naruto gave her a smile, and then their attention was distracted by a loud meow. Both of them looked up to watch as a large brown cat emerged from cover of the trees and approached Sasuke. The dark-haired boy pointedly ignored the animal, which let out another, slightly plaintive-sounding meow. "Shut up, cat," Sasuke growled out, loudly enough that his teammates could hear from their position. 

Naruto's smile widened into a grin, and Sakura knew a faint smile was appearing on her own face as she stared raptly at their other teammate and their mission objective. "I wish I had a camera," Naruto whispered as the cat took action, rubbing itself vigorously against Sasuke's legs.

Sakura couldn't stop her giggle. She agreed, though she suspected for different reasons. Sasuke was just too cute for words, and the scene deserved to be immortalized and stored in a scrapbook. Or two. Or three. Besides, she suspected that with a middleman to disguise the source, she could probably make more money selling prints to the other girls than from these D-ranks.

Sasuke finally gave in and squatted down, giving Tora a perfunctory pet. This elicited a loud, satisfied purr, and after a few more pets the cat deigned to allow the boy to pick her up. Keeping the cat securely cradled in his arms - the animal had decided to escape again once - he walked over to where his teammates were waiting, the most adorable disgruntled expression on his face. "Come on," he snapped.

While Sakura - barely - managed to keep her face smooth as she stood, Naruto didn't even try, laughing openly as he reached over and scratched Tora behind the ears. "Are you really sure the Uchiha aren't the evil opposites of the Inuzuka, Sasuke?" he asked.

"Shut up, Naruto," he growled, and then he stalked out of the park, Tora giving Sakura a warning hiss as they passed her. Naruto gave her another grin, and then they followed Sasuke the short distance to the Fire Daimyo's mansion.

It took about a half-hour to deliver the cat to her owner, report the mission success, and make their way back to the Third Training Ground. This got them there more or less on time for Kakashi's scheduled meeting, or - more realistically - at least an hour early. Sasuke and Naruto settled into some more sparring, and while she demurred at first, Naruto eventually managed to draw Sakura into the practice as well. He was correcting Sakura on a taijutsu stance when Kakashi finally arrived, a book in one hand; it took Sakura only a glance at the cover to recognize it as The Gutsy Shinobi And The Ghosts of Bird Country.

Kakashi pointed with the volume at a stand of trees. "Today," he said without any introduction, "you're going to learn how to climb trees like a ninja."

  


* * *

  


For as long as Sakura could remember, the small training room in the back of her house had stayed unused, and she usually only entered it on the rare occasions that her father had decided it was time to clean it. It wasn't hard for her to guess why he was disinclined to use it. A personal dojo was the kind of addition to the house that was more likely to be demanded by a jounin than a genin, and there was a set of wooden bokken racked neatly by the door even though her father didn't usually carry a sword. It had been her mother's room, she knew without her father saying.

Yet, in the past month, since Sakura had become a genin and her father had started talking about participating in the upcoming Chuunin Exams, that had changed. Her mother's things had been packed away and relocated to the attic, the old and worn floor pads had been replaced, and a visit to the training room had become part of her father's morning routine, one that he dragged Sakura into when he could.

This morning, they were working on kunai melee. They didn't spar freely, the way Naruto and Sasuke liked to spar, a desire for which Kakashi usually indulged them. Sakura and her father might both be genin, but she was a twelve-year-old girl fresh out of the academy, and Haruno Takeru was a man with decades of experience. Overpowering his daughter, if he wished, would be a matter of moments. 

"Are you sure you'll be okay while I'm gone?" her father asked Sakura, for what seemed like the hundredth time, as she struggled to block each of the strikes he made with his blunt practice blade. Today, she wasn't counter-attacking or dodging. Only blocks with her own weapon were allowed.

"Yes, Father," Sakura answered. It was far from the first time he'd asked the question, and she felt a spark of irritation which she pushed aside with practiced ease. The next blow would be from above, she thought.

Her father struck low, almost crouching down to slash at Sakura's feet, and she had to dance backward to avoid the strike. He frowned. "You can't let yourself expect a pattern, Sakura," he said seriously.

"Yes, Father," Sakura said again. Only fear that inattention would prove dangerous kept her eyes from dropping to the floor in embarrassment.

"That's enough for now," her father said. "Isn't it time for you to go to your team meeting, anyway?"

"We're meeting a little later than usual today," Sakura reminded him as she started quickly cleanup and put the practice weapons away. "At the Tower."

"Once Tsubaki-chan gets here, we'll be going to meet Kabuto-kun and our squad leader for this mission there too. You can walk with us." Her father put his own weapon away. "Since we have some extra time, I think I'll make some hot chocolate. Would you like some?" Sakura nodded eagerly, and her father vanished into the kitchen. Sakura finished her task before following.

Her father was already at work, milk heating on the stovetop as he mixed the dry ingredients in a small bowl. He cooked for himself and Sakura more out of necessity than pleasure, but his homemade hot chocolate was one of the few recipes he prided himself on. He'd told Sakura once that he'd learned it from his mother, who had picked it up on campaign in the southern islands during the Second Ninja World War. Sakura quickly washed her hands and face and went to sit down at the kitchen table. A few moments later, her father joined her, two steaming mugs in hand.

Sakura accepted hers and took a drink, only to wince from the too-hot liquid. She blew on it to cool it, then took a more cautious sip. Her father chuckled. "Your mother always did the same thing," he said softly, "even after years and years." Sakura stared at the top of her hot chocolate. It was not the first time her father had said that. Her father shook his head. "You really are so much like her," he commented wistfully.

Sakura's gaze didn't move. "I… don't see how," she whispered. "Mom was a jounin, a hero. I'm… not."

Her father was silent a moment. "I didn't fall in love with Five-Element Amaya," he stated quietly. "I fell in love with Yuuhi Amaya, dead last in our academy class."

Sakura almost dropped her mug as she looked up, staring at her father in shock. "Mother was… that… that can't be true."

Her father took a long drink from his hot chocolate. "It is." He hesitated, seeming to ponder his words for a long time. "Sakura-chan, your academy ranking only matters in the academy. I placed third in our class, five places ahead of Namikaze Minato." 

As always, her father's face turned cold and hard for a moment when he named the famous hero. Sakura no longer needed to wonder why. Not now that she knew what legacy the Fourth Hokage had left. Now that she knew what he had done to an innocent baby girl, what he had cost her father, in order to save the village, in order to create her. 

Her father didn't miss the look that passed over her face. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked down at her cooling cocoa again. "I just… I wish I was… better. I wish I was…" She trailed off, not sure she what wanted to say.

Her father reached over the table and took her hand. "Sakura-chan," he said gently.

"Do you think Mother would be proud of me?" Sakura asked. Would she love her daughter, despite everything she was? 

"No doubt," her father answered without hesitating. "Every day," he said, "I wish your mother was here to see you." 

A loud knock came from their front door, and her father smiled. "That would be Tsubaki-chan," he said. "I'll get the door while you finish your cocoa."

When she had done that, cleaned up, and went to the front room of their house, her father was talking quietly with a tall, black-haired woman who Sakura only half-recognized. At the sound of Sakura's approach, her father turned back to her. "Ah, Sakura-chan, you remember Katou Tsubaki-san, of course."

Sakura almost froze at the full name, then forced herself to give a polite bow. "Hello, Katou-san."

The woman looked at Sakura, and something flashed in her dark eyes that made Sakura want to back away. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone, and the woman smiled faintly. "Good morning, Sakura-chan."

Sakura wanted to kick herself. How had she not realized? Of course the "Tsubaki-chan" who her father was taking the Chuunin Exams with would be the same Tsubaki who was her teacher, and his friend, Mizuki's wife. She almost stammered out an apology, but she wasn't sure what she could actually apologize to the woman for, not without bringing up her secret or sharing things about that night the Hokage had warned her not to speak of.

The woman seemed to read Sakura's mind well enough, despite her silence. "Don't blame yourself, Sakura-chan," she said. "Mizuki wouldn't want that."

"Thank you," Sakura's father said.

The corner of Tsubaki's mouth twitched into an almost-smile that seemed far more genuine than the actual smile she had directed at Sakura a moment ago. "I didn't say it for you, Takeru."

"Of course," her father replied.

Sakura didn't know what to say, but neither adult pressed her for an answer, and they let her hang back a small ways as she trailed them out of the house. She wasn't far enough away to avoid overhearing their quiet conversation, though.

"Have you heard anything more?" her father asked.

Tsubaki shrugged. "No more," she said, her voice tight and controlled. "Just the letter once a week, but no real news in those."

"At least they are allowing him communication." Her father hesitated, then added, "It's a good sign."

"I don't know how much of my letters get back to him," Tsubaki replied, anger breaking through a little. "Or really… the letters are in his handwriting, reference things only we would know, but ANBU…" 

Sakura's stomach dropped suddenly. She meant… Mizuki might be dead. Her teacher might be dead, secretly executed because he had let himself be captured for her sake. She knew intellectually - the Hokage himself had made a point of telling her that night - that Mizuki had made his own choices, that if he'd done the right thing in the first place, as he'd taught them in the academy, he would have been in no danger. It still felt like it was her fault.

"There's no reason for a fragile deception like that," her father said firmly. "You know that, Tsubaki-chan."

"Right," the woman said, taking a deep breath and visibly calming. "You're right."

A few moments later, Yakushi Kabuto joined them, appearing out from a side street with a cheery wave. "Good morning, Takeru-san, Tsubaki-san." He smiled down at Sakura. "Sakura-chan."

"Kabuto-kun," her father replied.

"Good morning, Kabuto-san," Sakura said a moment later. Tsubaki just nodded at her younger teammate.

"Are we gaining a fourth teammate?" the silver-haired boy asked lightly.

"It's a little early for Sakura-chan to take the exams, don't you think?" Sakura's father replied. "But if you fail a few more times, maybe you'll get to team with her soon enough."

Kabuto placed a hand over his heart in mock pain. "You realize that I am the youngest person on this team."

"This is only Takeru-kun's second try," Tsubaki said dryly, "and my third. How many did you say you were up to?"

Kabuto raised a hand to adjust his glasses, but Sakura saw him grinning behind it. "True enough," he said. He turned to Sakura. "So why do we have the pleasure of your company this morning, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm meeting my team at the Tower this morning," Sakura explained.

"Ah. And how are you getting along with them? The boys giving you any trouble?" Kabuto asked.

"No, no trouble, Kabuto-san," Sakura said.

Kabuto smiled again. "I'm glad to hear that. What's Hatake-sama been teaching you?"

"Tree-walking," Sakura said, not able to stop herself from grimacing. Naruto had taken to it like a natural, reaching the top of his tree by the end of the first session, and the next morning a slightly-tired Sasuke had matched his feat. Sakura, of course, hadn't found it so easy, taking a few more days to get to the top, and even now a distraction easily made her lose her footing. Worse, now Kakashi had them using the technique for endurance training, running up and down the tree trunks until they literally dropped.

"That bad, huh?" Kabuto asked, and Sakura knew her thoughts must have shown on her face. "If you're still having trouble when we get back, I can give you some chakra control tips."

"Thank you, Kabuto-san," Sakura said, and then they turned a corner and the Hokage Tower came into view. Like always this time of day, it was busy with ninja coming and going. Her father led his team through the throng toward a bench outside the entrance, and, not seeing her team, Sakura kept trailing after.

Waiting there was a brown-haired woman wearing a chuunin's armored jacket, and Sakura didn't need the tattoos on her face to know she was an Inuzuka. Three gray dogs lounged around her feet, and as their mistress stood they also stirred. "Haruno Takeru, Katou Tsubaki, and Yakushi Kabuto?" she asked.

"Yes, sir," Tsubaki answered quickly.

The woman nodded, and her dogs left her, walking up to sniff the genin. One of them approached Sakura, and she backed away nervously. "Your daughter?" the Inuzuka asked her father.

"Yes," the man said, his voice tight. Sakura's eyes didn't leave the dog, which made a soft noise she couldn't interpret. "Is there a problem, sir?" she heard her father ask.

The dog suddenly leapt forward. Sakura raised her arms to guard herself, only to find them covered in wet slobber. She almost fell over from surprise, and then she did fall over as the dog overpowered her and started to lick her face. 

The Inuzuka woman laughed. "I suppose not," she said. "Heel, boy. Don't scare the poor girl." The dog backed away, and the woman smiled at Sakura as she rose. "Sorry," she said. "He likes meeting kids. Try scratching beneath his chin, and you'll have a friend for life. Don't worry, he won't bite a Leaf ninja." Sakura cautiously followed the suggestion, and quickly the other two dogs crowded around her, demanding attention. While she was distracted by the animals, the Inuzuka turned back to her father's team.

"I've been assigned to be your squad leader for this mission," she said. "My name is -"

"Inuzuka Hana, right?" Kabuto asked.

The woman took a moment to answer. "Do I know… wait." She snapped her fingers suddenly. "That's where I knew that name from. Yakushi Kabuto, Migaki-sensei's Applied Toxicology lectures, two years ago. You sat next to Hyuuga."

Kabuto bowed. "Guilty as charged."

"All right, then. Like he said, I'm Inuzuka Hana. My partners are the Haimaru brothers. Don't even bother trying to keep them separate in your head; they'll just get offended when you mess up which is which." One of the dogs let out a huff that Sakura interpreted as amused. "We're scheduled to meet with the client in an half-hour."

"Is there a reason we're being assigned a chuunin squad leader?" Sakura's father asked. "That's not normal for veteran genin on a low-risk C-rank like we asked for."

"Good question, Haruno," Hana said. "We're being hired to guard an almost-completed construction project, but the client claims there's no specific threat and he wants extra security just in case. Based on that and other intelligence, we're expecting opposition. Worst-case scenario is estimated at one or two missing ninja, low chuunin quality at maximum."

"Why not just turn down the mission if the client is lying to us?" Tsubaki asked.

Hana just shrugged. "That's Hokage-sama's call. Politics, probably." She paused. "Unless you've got any urgent questions, we should head on up so we can go over the mission with Hokage-sama before the client arrives." One of the Haimaru brothers gave Sakura a parting lick, and then the dogs retreated to their mistress's side. After saying good-bye to Sakura, her father's team vanished into the Hokage Tower, leaving Sakura to wait for her own team to arrive.

"Kiba's sister's dogs are nice, aren't they?"

Sakura jumped in surprise, whirling around. "N-naruto-san!" she exclaimed. "When did you -"

Naruto gestured vaguely. "I was waiting over there for you to be done with your dad's team."

"Oh," Sakura said. "She was Kiba's sister?" she asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

Sakura shook her head as she sat down on the bench Hana had vacated. It was hard to imagine the woman she'd just met being so closely related to the rambunctious boy from their class. Naruto seated himself next to her, and they waited in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto said suddenly. "Has your father ever said anything about mine?"

Sakura blinked. "What? Why are you asking -"

"My mom won't talk about him," Naruto said. "Except that they weren't married, and he was a Leaf ninja. I know she had to have… known your parents back then, so I just wondered…" Naruto's words brought back a familiar pain and anger, and it must have showed on Sakura's face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." Naruto grimaced. "She still won't talk about that either."

Sakura's gut churned. "I wish you wouldn't either," Sakura snapped without thinking.

Naruto froze for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Sakura realized what she had said. She wished she could say that she felt some of the Nine-Tails's unnatural rage, but all she felt was her own emotions. The stupid thing she'd just said was all her. It was true, she wished Naruto would just let the matter of what had happened between their mothers be and stop reminding her of whose son he was. It was still stupid and hurtful to say it in that way, to his face. It probably sounded like she hated him. "Naruto-san, I -"

"No." Naruto held up his hand. "Don't apologize to me. I was wrong to talk about… about what my mother did that way. It won't happen again." Despite his calm words, his face was stormy. "Again, I'm sorry." He stood and stalked off, and Sakura stared after him helplessly.

Then she buried her face in her hands. Had she just wrecked what was possibly the closest thing she'd ever have to a friendship with one of her peers? The only thing stopping her from giving freedom to the tears that wanted to flow was the eyes of the ninja going in and out of the Hokage Tower.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there before hearing Sasuke's voice. "Get up, dead last. Kakashi-sensei's finally showed up."

She looked up at the dark-haired boy, then scanned the plaza as she rose, finding Kakashi and Naruto by the entrance to the tower. "Sorry."

Sasuke just grunted, and she followed him over to the rest of the team. Kakashi's eye wandered over Sakura, but he didn't say anything other than, "A bit of an exciting mission today, I think. Let's head on up to meet with Hokage-sama."

They wound up waiting for a few minutes outside the briefing room, as the previous meeting had gone over. When the doors opened, it was her father's team who emerged, escorting an unfamiliar, old civilian man. When her father spotted her, he paused for a moment. At a nod from Inuzuka Hana, he quickly walked over to Sakura and her team.

"Haruno-san," Kakashi said in greeting. "Leaving on a mission?"

"Yes, sir," he said, and then he turned to Sakura. His eyes widened, and Sakura knew that he recognized that something had disturbed her. "It looks like this mission could turn out a little bit longer than we planned, Sakura-chan, so try not to worry too much if I'm not back in three weeks exactly."

"I'll be fine, Father. Have a safe mission."

"Right," he said. "You be safe too." He glanced at her teammates, and his face hardened as his gaze settled on Naruto.

The blond boy winced, but then he straightened, an equally firm look on his face. "She'll be safe," Naruto said seriously. "I promise."

Sakura swallowed, her face flushing in embarrassment. What was he doing? Her father seemed taken aback, and he just grunted before exchanging goodbyes with Sakura and returning to his waiting team. As they left, the civilian asked, "Your daughter?"

"Yes, Tazuna-san," her father answered.

"Cute kid," the old man said, and that was the last Sakura heard of the conversation.

At a signal from one of the Hokage's chuunin guards, Kakashi led them into the briefing room. As normal, the Hokage was seated at a long desk, although somewhat less typically Iruka was seated next to him instead of the other of his usual assistants. "And a good morning to Team Kakashi," the Hokage said, puffing contentedly on his pipe as he studied a sheet of paper.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Sakura said in unison were teammates, forcing herself to push aside her still troubled emotions. This wasn't the time or the place to deal with the problem between Naruto and her.

Kakashi just raised his hand in way that was almost vaguely reminiscent of a lazy salute. "Morning, Hokage-sama. Is the mission we talked about ready?"

"Yes. Iruka-sensei?"

The teacher reached under the desk and pulled out a metal box. It was held shut by what looked like a padlock with a paper seal taped over it. "This is to be delivered to the guard outpost in Otafuku Gai. It should go without saying that you aren't to look inside," Iruka stated. "You will receive a similar package there, which you will return here."

After a brief look among the three genin, Naruto stepped forward and accepted the package, which turned out to have straps bolted on to the bottom, allowing it to be worn like a backpack. "Understood," he said. They waited for a moment.

Kakashi had pulled out his current Gutsy Shinobi book again. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"You aren't coming with us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. It was normal for them to do D-ranks on their own, but one going outside the village walls, even if only as far as the neighboring town of Otafuku Gai?

Kakashi turned a page in his book. "I promised my widowed neighbor that I would water her plants today." None of the genin even bothered protesting the excuse. The Hokage chuckled, and Kakashi flipped to the next page. "Oh, I almost forgot the exciting part." Then he turned another page.

The genin waited, but he didn't say anything, apparently lost in his reading. "What exciting part?" Sasuke asked after their teacher reached the next page.

"If you can make it there and back here without touching the ground," Kakashi said, "I think you'll be ready for a C-rank mission."

Sakura could feel her teammates' sudden interest, although she was far less excited. "All right… wait," Naruto said. "If you're going to be watering widowed plants, how will you even know if we -" Kakashi let out a thoughtful sound, and Naruto cut off. "Jounin, right."

Sasuke made for the windows behind the Hokage and Iruka. "Come on. Let's get this over with." The Hokage reached behind himself, unlocking the window. With a nod of thanks, Sasuke opened it and jumped outside and onto the roof a short distance below.

Naruto grinned. "All right. This should be fun," he said before heading out himself. 

Sakura took a moment to steel herself before following her teammates out onto the roof.

  


* * *

  


Naruto's day had not started well. He'd had to drop his mother off at the hospital for a checkup before meeting his team at the tower. It had been more awkward than usual, as he'd been working up the courage to broach the subject of his father, which he'd only done a handful of times since he first realized that it was a little weird that his mother rarely spoke of him and never in detail. Then, when he'd gone to meet his team, Sakura had been with her father, who… he really had no idea how to interact with, now that he knew the truth. What did you even say in that situation? None of the etiquette lessons he'd half-learned second-hand via Hinata had anything to say on the subject.

Somehow he didn't think, "Sorry my mother killed your wife," would really make much of an impact.

So fathers had been on his mind when he'd joined up with Sakura, and he'd turned into a big idiot. Sure, their parents must have known each other back then! That was a smooth bit of conversation! What kind of idiot was he? It was a minor miracle - even with the girl's obvious starvation for friendship - that Sakura was willing to accept his overtures at all. If she shut him down now it would fall on Sasuke to try to bind this team together, and he wouldn't even call Sakura by name unless Naruto had threatened him enough in prior hour.

Even the excitement of getting a D-rank mission that bordered on a C-rank by mere virtue of going outside the village proper, with the promise of actual C-ranks to come, couldn't totally lift his spirits. At least the mission itself and their teacher's challenge were going well. Getting to the village walls without touching the ground had been trivial; the only moderate difficulty had been explaining what they were doing to the one adult ninja who had come up to interrogate them about why they were jumping from roof to roof instead of using the streets.

Crossing the open space before the gates had required waiting for a passing merchant's cart, and getting through the gates on it had required another quick explanation to the guards. Then a quick run through the trees to Otafuku Gai, a brief pause to rest, and another rooftop excursion to the guard post, and with a knock on the window and a third explanation a laughing chuunin had exchanged the packages and sent them back on their way.

They were about halfway back when Sasuke, in the lead, came to a sudden halt. Naruto only barely managed to adjust his jump so that he landed beside him on the tree branch rather than slamming into his friend's back. Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Sasuke raised one hand, silencing him. The dark-haired boy's eyes darted around, searching for something.

Naruto took a slow, deep breath and searched his own senses, looking for what had spooked his teammate. He could hear Sakura bringing up the rear, a couple of trees behind them. Above, he could see a squirrel darting from one overhanging tree branch to another. He could smell rich, familiar forest scents. Nothing unusual.

With a heavy thud, Sakura landed on the branch beside him. She bent over for a moment, breathing heavily, but when Naruto glanced at her in concern she straightened.

Sasuke made an annoyed sound. "He's gone."

"Who -" Sakura began.

"We're being followed," the Uchiha announced.

"You sure?" Naruto asked. "I didn't hear anything."

"If Sasuke-kun thinks he noticed something," Sakura said quietly, then hesitated.

"Better safe than sorry," Naruto agreed quickly. Sasuke grunted his own agreement. Naruto reached back to touch the metal case he wore on his back. "We don't know what's in this," he said. "Someone could be after it."

"This close to the village?" Sakura asked, shivering.

"It's no guarantee of safety," Sasuke stated coldly. "Not even within the walls." Sakura shivered again. "We move together; protect the package. As fast as we can, no more stopping. Try to keep up, dead last."

Naruto's mouth twitched, filing away the matter of his final words for a… candid discussion after the mission. He gave Sakura a glance, but the girl nodded. "I'll be fine," she said softly. How she could put up with how Sasuke treated her, Naruto didn't understand.

"On three, then," Naruto said, and moments later they were moving again. Naruto kept his eyes open and his ears alert, but he didn't spy any sign of pursuit. Sakura started to fall behind about ten minutes into the run, but by slowing slightly himself Naruto let her catch up. As they neared the village less than half an hour later, he was half-convinced Sasuke had been imagining things.

Naruto forced Sasuke to stop for a moment by grabbing his sleeve. "Decision time," Naruto said. "We're going to have to cross the cleared area again to get to the gates. We can't wait for another convenient cart like we planned if we really think someone is following us." Sasuke grunted, but didn't seem to have an answer. "What do you think, Sakura-chan?"

It wasn't until he didn't get a response that he realized that Sakura hadn't made the jump to the tree branch he and Sasuke were perched on. Instead, she still stood on the last branch, panting and leaning against the trunk of the tree with one hand. "Coming," she said, and she pushed herself away from the tree, visibly steadied herself, and leapt.

It was a bad jump, Naruto could tell instantly. She undershot the branch the boys were standing on, barely able to grab hold of it with one hand. Naruto reached down and grabbed her free hand, supporting her weight. Before he could ask, Sasuke took her other hand, and together the two lifted her up to the branch. Sasuke let go almost immediately, but Naruto shifted himself to pick up the slack. "She needs to rest, Sasuke," Naruto said.

"No!" Sakura protested weakly. "I'll be fine!"

Naruto almost snapped at her not to lie, but he swallowed the words. She would take them badly, he knew. Sasuke wasn't so kind. "Jump to the next branch," Sasuke said, gesturing, "and I'll believe that, dead last." At least Sakura for some strange reason usually listened to the bastard, no matter how offensive he got.

Sakura wrenched herself free of Naruto's grasp and jumped. Naruto lost almost a full second staring at Sasuke in horror before he leapt after her. Her desperate surge of strength made her overshoot her target branch. As Naruto bounced off of it, following her, she slammed at full speed into the side of a tree trunk and started to slide down it. Naruto managed to orient himself appropriately so he could land feet-first above her, and hours of tree-walking training paid off as he stuck the landing. He raced down a few feet to where Sakura had stopped her fall by grabbing a gnarl with one hand. Her other arm hung at an odd angle by her side, broken.

"Sorry," she muttered, as Naruto gently took hold of her and lifted her up. Without a thought for Kakashi's challenge he carried her down the tree trunk and lay her on the ground underneath it.

Sasuke caught up with them, though he stayed perched on a low branch. "How bad?" he asked, his voice so flat that someone who didn't know the Uchiha as well as Naruto would never have detected the guilt.

Naruto gave the girl a quick inspection. "Broken arm looks like the worst of it. That and probably chakra exhaustion," he diagnosed. The rest was just bumps and scrapes, nothing serious.

"Sorry," Sakura said again, but then she tried to move her arm and whatever else she might have said was lost in a moan of pain.

"Don't move it," Naruto warned her, reaching back into his pack. "Damn it, I don't have my full medical kit with me." He should never have gotten into the habit of not carrying it around on their D-ranks. Or at least insisted on going to grab it when they'd learned they were leaving the village.

"I have," Sakura said, then paused with a wince. "Sealing scroll, in my rear pack." Naruto nodded, gently turning her so he could reach.

"We can't afford to wait around," Sasuke interjected as Naruto pulled out the scroll.

"We don't really have a choice," Naruto snapped back, unrolling the scroll. He was briefly distracted as he marveled at the breadth of material kept in so small a scroll; custom work, not an inefficient general purpose storage scroll.

"We still have a mission," Sasuke said. "Give me the package."

"What?" Naruto asked, looking up at his friend. "You're just going to -"

"If we're being followed," Sasuke said harshly, "they'll follow the package. Even if not, she'll get help faster if I go and tell the gate guards to send someone."

"It… it makes sense," Sakura said.

"Fine," Naruto said, shrugging the metal box off of his shoulders and throwing it at Sasuke. "Go." Without another word, the Uchiha was gone, and Naruto returned his attention to the sealing scroll. A few moments later, he had released what he needed. While he started to splint her arm, Sakura took the soldier pill and painkillers he offered her from the kit. It would make her pain and exhaustion worse when they wore off in an hour or so, but he needed her on her feet, just in case Sasuke was right about someone following them.

A few minutes later, Naruto helped her stand and supported her as they started to make their slow way back to the village. "I'm sorry," Sakura said again.

"We all make mistakes," Naruto said as gently as he could. She looked like she felt horrible for messing up the mission already; he didn't need to guilt her right now.

"Not just for this," Sakura said. "For… for always needing help."

"We're teammates," Naruto said simply. "We have to take care of each other." He sent an unkind thought off in Sasuke's direction. The other boy's argument had made sense, he supposed, but it just felt wrong. "Besides, I promised your father I'd keep you safe." Great job he'd done of that.

"Why?" Sakura asked. "Why did you… after what I said this morning…"

Naruto stopped moving. "After what you said?" he said. "You didn't say anything wrong."

"You looked so angry," Sakura said quietly.

"Only at myself," Naruto said. "I was worried that you would hate me for… the stupid thing I said." He grimaced. "There's… I know there's nothing that can make up for what my mother did. Practically the only thing I know about my father is that he died fighting the Nine-Tails, and I still hate it for that.

"I can only imagine what I'd feel if he'd been killed by another Leaf ninja, an ally, and his killer was still -" Naruto stopped short as Sakura pulled herself free of him. The pink-haired girl wavered, but she stayed on her feet as she stepped away from Naruto. "Sakura-chan?" he asked carefully. "What's wrong?"

As though his question was a trigger, she broke down, tears running down her face. She averted her gaze. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm so…"

Naruto couldn't guess what had caused this reaction, but helping Hinata through her troubles after the kidnapping attempt had given him experience calming crying girls. Taking care to avoid jostling her wounded arm, he reached around and hugged her. "I'm here, Sakura," he whispered.

She half-collapsed into him, sobbing into his shoulder, and he let her. After a few moments, she straightened, pulling away from Naruto. Her face was red, but the tears seemed have stopped. Naruto ventured a smile, but the girl wouldn't meet his gaze. "You should hate me," she said quietly.

Naruto wasn't sure why she felt that way, unless maybe she meant how she had rejected him back when they'd first met, which was ridiculous. That didn't matter right now, though. "I don't hate you," he assured her.

"You should," she insisted.

"I don't," Naruto repeated. "Believe it." He ventured another smile. "If anything, I'm worried it's the other way around; that you'll hate me." His smile faded. "I can't say you'd be wrong, really."

"I don't," Sakura began,then trailed off. "I don't want to hate you," she said. "It'd be… you've only been kind to me, kinder than I -"

"Don't talk like that," Naruto interrupted. "Of course you deserve to be treated kindly." Sakura didn't say anything. "If you don't want to hate me, then don't." When Sakura still didn't respond, he offered her his hand instead. "Would you like to be friends instead?"

"My father," Sakura started.

"This isn't about our parents," Naruto said. "I'm just me, and you're just you. Would you like to be friends?"

"Why?" Sakura asked. "Why do you want to be friends with me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Sakura hung her head. "Because I'm… I'm weak. I'm useless and a coward. I'm not pretty and strong like Hinata-san; I'm not brave like you or Sasuke-kun. I've never done anything for you, and I… I think I do hate your mother."

"Is that all?" Naruto asked. "Sakura-chan… that's not how I pick my friends." He paused. "Ino-san is a pretty girl," he said, "and she was top kunoichi in our class. She gave me birthday presents, nice ones, every year we were in the same class. Her father visits my mom sometimes and they share old war stories. 

"Would you say that Ino-san and I are friends?"

A searching look appeared on Sakura's face, and Naruto waited for her to reach her conclusion. "No?" the pink-haired girl said after a moment.

"That's right," Naruto said. "Do you know why I'm not friends with her? Because of you."

"Me?"

"Because of how she treats you," Naruto explained. "Because she's a bully and cruel. Because she uses her friends as weapons in her feud with Ami-san. Because she thinks the fact that she's pretty and strong means that she's better than those who aren't."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "She… she's not… that horrible. She… she's better than Ami-san at least."

Naruto laughed. "And that's why I want to be your friend," he said. "You're kind, even when people don't deserve it." He laughed again. "You even manage to put up with Sasuke, somehow." He became more serious. "Even when… even when you found out who I was, back when we started at the academy. You didn't try to hurt me or get revenge. You just wanted me to leave you alone, didn't you?"

Sakura nodded hesitantly.

"Well, I can't do that anymore," Naruto said. "We're teammates now." He held out his hand again. "So… do you want to be friends?"

Sakura hesitantly took his hand. "Yes," she whispered, a series of quick expressions Naruto couldn't read passing over her face.

Naruto smiled at her. "Then we're friends. That was easy, wasn't it?"

That was when the search party that had set out from the gates when Sasuke reached them found them.

  


* * *

  


Sakura was in something of a daze as the two guards escorted her and Naruto the short distance back to the gates, Naruto's words echoing through her head. "Then we're friends. That was easy, wasn't it?" Was that really all there was to it? Could they just… decide that they were going to be friends, despite everything, and then be friends? Would that really work?

So long as she kept her secret, and her father didn't find out and get upset… maybe. She felt guilty for accepting Naruto's offer while hiding what she really was, but not guilty enough to turn him down. That probably made her a horrible person, but… it was also kind of fair. She couldn't hold Naruto responsible for her mother's death, so he couldn't blame her for his father's. He just… didn't know that he could blame her in the first place.

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she barely noticed the thinly veiled irritation and disgust in the tone of the guard who told her, "Don't screw up like this again," after they were through the gates. She did, however, notice the glare Naruto shot at his retreating back as their escort returned to their other duties, which only lightening when the other guard gave her teammate a solid punch to the shoulder and began a lecture on politeness.

Then Naruto's face fell again as he glanced about the the gate plaza. "Is something wrong, Naruto-san?" Sakura asked.

Naruto turned to her and gave her a thin smile. "You don't need to be so formal with your friends, Sakura-chan," he chided gently.

Sakura flushed. "Naruto-kun," she said hesitatingly, testing the feel of the address on her tongue. It wasn't as awkward as she'd feared.

Naruto's smile briefly widened into an honest grin, then faded. "I was hoping Sasuke would wait for us here," he said.

"The mission," Sakura began.

Naruto cut her off with a shrug. "I know," he said. "Come on; we should get you to the hospital so you can get your arm looked at." He paused. "Are you up for walking all the way there, or do you want to rest here while I see if I can get us a cart ride or something?"

"I can walk," Sakura answered unthinkingly. Naruto looked a little dubious, but when Sakura took stock of herself she was pretty sure she could walk the rest of the way.

"All right," Naruto said, and she followed him through the streets of the the Leaf Village.

When they reached the hospital, she remembered to tell Naruto to ask if Kabuto's father was available, and they were quickly shuffled off to an otherwise-abandoned waiting room. "How do you know Yakushi-sensei?" Naruto asked her while they waited. "Did he make that first aid kit you have?"

"His son is my father's teammate," Sakura answered. "He gave me the kit."

Naruto frowned. "I can't remember if I've met his son," he said. "But if he made that scroll, he's really good. I've been working on the same sort of thing, and I don't think I could get half as much material stored in a scroll twice the size."

"You know his father?" Sakura asked after a moment's silence.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "He… uh… works with my mother," he said awkwardly.

Sakura resisted the urge to grimace at the reminder. Naruto was Naruto, not just the son of Uzumaki Kushina. "Oh," she said.

Before Naruto could answer, a short-haired woman wearing a dark kimono poked her head in through the open waiting room door. Naruto instantly sat up. "Shizune-neechan!" he exclaimed. "You're back?"

The woman nodded. "Came in this morning; I'm sorry I missed your graduation, Naruto." She gave Sakura a smile, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat. "I heard you requested Yakushi-sensei," she said, "but he's got a surgery scheduled soon. Do you mind if I take a look instead?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto, who nodded. "Shizune-neechan's great," he said. "She's Tsunade-hime's apprentice and probably the best medical ninja in the village."

"Flatterer," Shizune said with a smile. "Take your teammate to exam room 206, okay, Naruto? I'll be there in just a few minutes." She waved as she left, revealing a Leaf forehead protector worn around her forearm.

Naruto led her to the named room. "Shizune-neechan's nice," he told Sakura as he helped her onto the cot. "You'll like her."

"Is she… your sister?" Sakura asked. The woman seemed a little too old for that.

Naruto blinked. "Oh, no," he said. "I call her that because she took care of me when I was young while -" Naruto cut off suddenly, a look of uncharacteristic fear passing across his face. "Wait here," he said, jumping off the stool he was waiting on. "I need to -"

He cut off again, this time interrupted by the sound of a wheelchair being pushed down the hallway outside. "And here we are," came Shizune's voice, "a little surprise present since you put up with my poking and prodding all morning."

Sakura clenched her fists as she watched Shizune wheel Uzumaki Kushina into the room. She felt her nails bite into her palms as she watched the shocked expression pass over the redheaded woman's face for the briefest of instants before Kushina looked away. Red-hot anger boiled in her gut.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "I didn't realize…"

Shizune blinked. "Is something wrong?" she asked, speaking over the boy.

Sakura ignored both of them, all her attention focused on the crippled woman in the wheelchair. She almost didn't recognize the growled, "You!" as her own voice.

"Young lady, that's hardly," Shizune began, only to stop as Kushina grabbed the sleeve of her kimono.

"Let it be," the older woman said in her rough voice.

"But, Kushina-sama…"

"Shizune," the woman snapped, then broke into a fit of coughing. "Let it be."

"All right," Shizune said dubiously, and she slowly approached Sakura while Naruto raced over to his mother and wheeled her into the hallway outside. Shizune seated herself on the stool Naruto had vacated. "So, you're Naruto's teammate, right?" she asked, obvious forced cheer in her voice. "What's your name?" Without waiting for an answer, she reached for Sakura's splinted arm and started to unwrap it.

Sakura resisted the perverse urge to snarl at the woman as her churning gut settled into a calmer, but still almost painful warmth. "Haruno Sakura," she admitted and waited for the reaction.

Shizune froze. Her eyes darted back to the half-open door. "Oh." She swallowed. "Oh." She sat still for just a moment before a barely audible, "You know?" escaped her lips.

This time Sakura did snarl. "I know she killed my mother."

Shizune didn't answer for a while. "I'm sorry, Haruno-san," she finally said, her voice controlled. "Let's get this arm taken care of." Shizune undid Naruto's splint, and started to feel along the wounded arm.

Sakura steeled herself for pain, but nothing came. Shizune frowned. "Naruto?" she asked, loudly enough to be heard out in the hallway. "What did you say was wrong with Haruno-san?"

"Looked like a simple fracture of the right forearm," Naruto answered from outside, "and probable chakra exhaustion."

Shizune felt along Sakura's arm again. "We need to go over your first aid again, Naruto," she said. "Her arm's barely bruised!" As if to demonstrate, Shizune moved Sakura's arm through it's full range of motion. Sakura didn't feel any pain.

"What?" Naruto asked, poking his head back inside the exam room. "You're kidding."

"I haven't run a diagnostic technique," Shizune added, laying one hand across Sakura's forehead, "but I'm not seeing any signs of chakra exhaustion either."

There was a murmur from outside, and Naruto's head pulled out of the doorway for a moment before returning. "My mom says she probably… inherited a regenerative ability?" His voice was confused, and he gave Sakura a questioning glance, to which she could only shrug in response.

Shizune's eyes widened momentarily, just long enough for Sakura to catch. "I see," she said. She let Sakura's arm go. "Do you think you could channel a little chakra, Haruno-san?" she asked. Sakura formed a seal and complied. "Any pain?" When Sakura shook her head, Shizune nodded. "If you can do that, you're not suffering chakra exhaustion. You should go home and rest for the remainder of the day, just in case, but I think you're fine. Do you know the way out?"

As she left, Naruto gave her a guilty look and another, "I'm sorry."

She forced herself to nod at him and ignore the woman next to him, and then she left and made her own way home. By the time she made it there, went to the kitchen, and grabbed something to eat, her anger had finally cooled to a calm simmer. She knew it wasn't Naruto's fault. It wasn't even… and this hurt to admit… his mother's fault, really. That Shizune woman hadn't known who she was. That was all. As she stood there in the kitchen, half-eaten slice of bread in hand, she took a deep breath, and let the last of the anger go for now.

Then she finished her snack and went upstairs to take a quick shower and change clothes. Not intending to go out, she threw on one of her favorite old t-shirts, a worn gray shirt with a pattern of her namesake pink cherry blossoms running across the front, and a pair of shorts. She left her forehead protector on her nightstand, and went back downstairs to the kitchen.

She sat at the kitchen table, staring at her arm, and finally allowed herself to think about what had just happened. Her arm had been broken, and now it was not. Shizune had said it was barely bruised, but as she stared at it now she could see no sign of injury. She had inherited a regenerative ability? Her father certainly had no such skill. She'd helped him tend his wounds enough times to know that.

An idea tickled at the back of her mind. Without thought she stood and found a sharp kitchen knife, then thoroughly washed it with soap and water. Without hesitating to think about it, she drew the blade across her palm, breaking the skin and drawing blood. She held her hand out over the sink, letting the blood drip down, and waited. After a minute or so, the sharp pain faded away. She set the knife down and rinsed her hand, then turned it to look at her palm. As she'd somehow expected, the skin was smooth and unmarred. There was no sign of the self-inflicted injury. She made a fist, then opened it, and felt no pain.

That was that, then, she thought numbly. Nothing human healed like that. She picked up the knife to wash it, then the doorbell rang. Barely thinking, she answered the door and found Kakashi and her teammates waiting outside.

It was only when she followed their eyes that she realized she was still holding the bloody knife.

  


* * *

  


Uchiha Sasuke was fuming as his teacher knocked on the door of Sakura's house. Ever since the dead last had taken his comment that he'd believe she was fine if she could make the next jump as an instruction, this whole day had turned into one disaster after another. He'd realized that the day was an irrecoverable loss from the moment he'd delivered the package, when the first question out of Kakashi's mouth had been a perfectly flat, "Where are your teammates, Sasuke-kun?"

Then they'd had to run all around the village trying to track those teammates down, as the hospital had inexplicably let a twelve-year-old girl with a broken arm and chakra exhaustion just leave after a brief checkup. When the receptionist had found it, the doctor's report had stated that she was uninjured, only tired, which was ridiculous. Sasuke had seen her arm; that kind of injury didn't disappear in an hour or two. 

They still hadn't found Naruto, even after checking his house, but after a quiet talk with Naruto's mother, Kakashi had just left a message to send Naruto to meet them at Sakura's house. Then he'd led Sasuke there, leaving him vaguely amused that the first of his female classmates' whose house he would visit would be the one girl who'd never asked him over. 

Sakura opened the door, and Sasuke gaped a moment as he stared at her arm. It had been broken! Had a medical ninja wasted the time and energy to force it to heal so quickly? For a random genin? Then he noticed the knife in her hand, and Sasuke lost that train of thought. Was that blood?

"Lunch fighting back, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi said easily, apparently not surprised at the girl's lack of injury.

Her eyes widened, she let out a quiet squeak, and she dropped the knife. Kakashi caught it by the hilt, and after a moment he wiped it off with a cloth he pulled out of somewhere, flipped it around, and offered it back to the pink-haired girl. Sakura gingerly took it. "Let me see your arm," Kakashi said, his voice gentler than Sasuke could ever remember hearing it.

The jounin inspected the limb for a moment, then released it. "Sasuke-kun," he said. "You and Naruto-kun take a walk around the block. Sakura-chan and I need to have a private chat for a moment." Sakura's green eyes widened, staring over Sasuke's shoulder, and he followed them to see Naruto seated on the other side of the street, a sour look on his face.

Sasuke sensed his teacher would accept no argument, and so he complied. Naruto stood as he neared, and fell in beside Sasuke. He knew his friend, so he just made an interrogative grunt and waited for Naruto to say what was bothering him.

"You should have waited for us," Naruto said. "At the gates. You were safe there, even if there really had been someone after us."

Sasuke grunted in answer, fighting down irritation. "I was going to," he said, "but the guards said I should report to Hokage-sama."

Naruto stopped short. "Seriously?" he asked. "Not even to Kakashi-sensei, but to Hokage-sama?"

Sasuke nodded, and then he thought about it for a moment. "That is odd." That would mean that the guards had thought the fact that they'd been targeted was of interest to the Hokage. Either there was something important in the packages they'd delivered, which the guards wouldn't have had any reason to know, or… something important on the team itself. Sasuke wasn't ignorant. He knew what could happen to members of rare, powerful bloodlines. But how would anyone have known he was leaving the village on this day?

"Right," Naruto said, apparently reading the expression on Sasuke's face perfectly. He started to walk again, turning down a side street, and with a grunt Sasuke followed.

"Sakura-chan met my mother at the hospital," Naruto said suddenly. Sasuke grunted again and nodded. He didn't know or care about the details, but he knew that dead last hated Naruto's mother for some reason that Naruto thought was a good one. A fake smile appeared on the blond's face. "On the bright side, she's got some sort of regenerative bloodline limit."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to stop short, and he had to race a couple steps to catch up with his friend when he didn't stop. That was why her arm was healed? Sasuke had thought he'd known every clan in the village with a bloodline limit, and Haruno wasn't on that list. He said as much, and Naruto shrugged awkwardly.

"I think it's from her mother," he said.

"Bloodline clans don't usually let their children marry out," Sasuke said. His grandfather on his father's side had married into the Uchiha Clan.

"I don't know," Naruto said sourly, taking another turn.

Sasuke was self-aware enough to fight down the sudden hint of jealousy that Sakura had somehow awakened a bloodline limit, while his own eyes stayed stubbornly black. It wasn't like dead last was anything to be jealous of, and with an ability like that maybe she wouldn't be useless dead weight forever. Maybe this day wasn't a total loss after all.

They walked in silence until they returned to Sakura's house, where they found Kakashi waiting outside with their other teammate. Sakura had tied her forehead protector around her head again, clashing oddly with the otherwise civilian clothes she was wearing. Her eyes didn't leave the ground as they approached. "I'm sorry for messing up the mission, Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Just don't do it again, dead last," Sasuke said. She knew she'd screwed up, that was good enough for him.

Naruto suddenly grabbed Sasuke's shoulder with surprising, painful force. "I've told you not to call her that, bastard," he said. Sasuke shook himself free.

"Naruto-s… Naruto-kun," Sakura said quietly. "Don't."

"But -" Naruto began, only to be cut off as Kakashi clapped once.

"Enough of that," Kakashi said. "Mission report." He pointed at Sasuke. "Go."

A few minutes later, after each genin had given their report in turn, Kakashi sighed. "Well," he said. "You completed the mission." He let that hang in the air for a moment. "You failed my challenge," he added, "but that was the right call when one of you was hurt. I'm glad to see that you three realized that.

"And," Kakashi continued, "I'll get a twenty percent discount and Gai will owe me dinner, since my genin spotted his."

Naruto stirred. "Wait? That's your mysterious jounin way you were going to tell if we cheated? You hired another genin team to shadow us?" It had been genin following them? What kind of genin were they, Sasuke wondered, if even he had only barely caught them, and only once?

Kakashi let out a quiet laugh before speaking again. "I'm done with the good news," he stated simply. "Sakura-chan."

"Sir?"

"You should know your own limits. If this had been a dangerous mission, your actions could have gotten your entire team killed."

"Yes, sir." Sakura sounded appropriately miserable.

"Naruto-kun," Kakashi continued, "you should have reported what had happened as soon as you'd delivered Sakura-chan to the hospital. If there had been real opposition, Sasuke-kun could have been intercepted. It was not safe to assume that the mission was complete and your other teammate was safe."

After Naruto acknowledged the criticism, Kakashi turned his attention to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, you should not have left your teammates behind."

Sasuke grunted irritably.

Kakashi raised his hand to cut off the protest Sasuke didn't feel like making anyway. "I know that there were logical reasons for your decision. But what was the first lesson I taught you?"

"Ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash," Sasuke growled out. "I know that!" Wasn't his reasoning obvious?

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked, lowering his hand. When Sasuke didn't say anything, he continued to press. "So, you thought that, by going ahead, you were protecting your injured teammate? Drawing the enemy away?"

Sasuke nodded curtly. "Sasuke-kun," Sakura breathed, but he ignored her.

"I see," Kakashi said. "However, ninja are trained to look underneath the underneath," he said. "If I had been hunting your package, I would have wondered, 'Maybe Sasuke-kun is just a decoy?' I would have attacked Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan as soon as you were out of earshot, just to be sure.

"You all made mistakes," Kakashi concluded, "but that's what these D-rank missions are for. I trust you will all learn the right lessons from this. We'll be meeting at eight o'clock in the morning for training for the next two days and not taking any missions.

"After that, we will take our first C-rank mission. Be prepared to spend at least two weeks away from the village. We'll go over the details tomorrow."

"But we didn't -" Sakura began.

"Don't try to change his mind, Sakura-chan," Naruto hissed. Sasuke wasn't able to stop a bark of laughter.

"Am I… are we really ready?" Sakura asked despite the blond's warning.

"Yes," Kakashi answered simply. "Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, you're dismissed for the afternoon. Walk with me a while, Sasuke-kun."

Trying to hide his discomfort at being singled out, Sasuke followed his teacher down what quickly became, to his surprise, a far too familiar path. "Why are we here?" Sasuke demanded angrily as they paused outside the Uchiha Clan's graveyard.

"To visit a friend of mine," Kakashi said, and without any further explanation he led Sasuke to one of the memorial markers. It was one of the smaller ones, indicating the body had been destroyed in the field and not even the ashes had been returned. Sasuke didn't recognize the name.

"Uchiha Obito," Kakashi stated, "was my teammate, during the Third Ninja World War."

"So?" Sasuke asked. What did this have to do with anything?

Kakashi sighed, and then he raised one hand to his forehead protector, slung over his missing eye. "There's another name I'm known by," he said, and then he lifted his forehead protector and opened the eye that wasn't missing after all. "Sharingan Kakashi."

"How?!" Sasuke demanded.

Kakashi closed his crimson eye and let his forehead protector drop. "Sit," he said. "I'm going to tell you how I got Uchiha Obito killed."

  


* * *

  


Naruto ate his dinner in a silence that he knew spoke louder than words, even the fact that his mother had made ramen failing to lift his spirits. If anything, it made it worse, because Naruto knew it was a deliberate attempt to improve his mood and distract him from the events of the day. He did not want to be distracted, and it was disappointing that his mother would resort to such a transparent ploy.

His mother picked distractedly at her own bowl of ramen, finally letting a mouthful drop back into the broth uneaten. "How did it go?" she asked, in a quiet near-whisper. "Once Kakashi-kun caught up with you."

Naruto stirred his ramen with one chopstick, watching it spiral around for a moment before answering. "We'll be taking a C-rank mission in three days. Kakashi-sensei said to start preparing for at least two weeks in the field. We'll learn the details tomorrow."

"Was… how was Haruno-kun doing?" Naruto considered himself good at reading his mother's moods, but he couldn't place the look on his mother's face. Anger? Guilt? Fear? It was much like the one that had appeared for only a moment when she'd heard that Sakura's injuries had disappeared.

When she'd explained that Sakura must have inherited a regenerative ability, her face had been smooth and emotionless, the same look she got whenever Naruto asked her a question she didn't want to answer about his father. Naruto set his chopsticks down on top of his bowl, and carefully considered his words before he answered.

"Did Sakura-chan's mother die in an attempt to use her bloodline limit to heal you?" Naruto asked. Attempts at transferring or copying bloodline abilities had been made in the past, but the Leaf Village had banned such research for more than a decade, due to the low success rate and the high chances of killing the donor.

Naruto's mother dropped her own chopsticks. One fell into her bowl with a soft plop, the other bounced off the rim and rolled off the table and onto the floor. A look of pure, honest confusion passed over her face, then it flickered into that same damned guarded expression before she looked away. "No," she said, her voice choking. "I would… I would never have agreed to such a thing."

"Then how did she die?!" Naruto demanded. "I don't… I really don't want to believe that you're just a murderer. That's what Sakura-chan thinks, I know. I want to be able to tell her that's not true; I want to be able to ask her to not hate you. I understand if what happened is classified. But you have to give me something, Mother! Please!"

Naruto's mother didn't look at him. "I can't tell you," she said, her voice croaking even more than usual. "I… just can't," she said. "There is… it is classified. There are secrets there that aren't mine to tell anymore. I can't… I can't give you what you want, Naruto."

"Even if you can't say why," Naruto pleaded, "at least tell me that you aren't a murderer, Mother. Give me something to work with! Anything!" His mother said nothing, still hiding her face, and Naruto's stomach dropped. "Either," he started, and then he was able to say anything for a moment. "Either," he tried again, "you are a murderer, which I can't believe, or you… you want Sakura-chan to hate you."

"She should hate me," his mother said hoarsely.

Naruto slammed his hands into the table and stood, fighting down fury. "Damn it, Mother! I'm tired of all these secrets! You wouldn't tell me why you were so interested in Sakura-chan until she told me in front of you. Now you won't tell me about what actually happened. You won't even tell me about my father!" He forced himself to stop talking before he said something he would regret, and turned away from the dinner table. "I'm not hungry."

He heard his mother wheel herself out from the table and toward him. "Naruto," she said softly, "come here." When he hesitated, she added, "Please."

He followed her out of the kitchen and into their living room. His mother gestured for him to sit on the couch. As Naruto obeyed, she opened a small cupboard built into the wall, the one that she kept locked with a seal keyed to her chakra. He knew it held old scrolls and documents from the Whirlpool Country, the history of the Uzumaki Clan, and her few personal keepsakes from before she came to the Leaf Village. She pulled out a photo album he'd never seen before and shut the door, resealing it before pushing herself over to beside where Naruto sat.

"I… Hokage-sama convinced me, when you were very young, and we thought… that I might not be here for long, that it was best to keep the identity of your father secret until you were mature enough to keep it secret, for your own and my safety." His mother paused, almost opening the album.

"Mom?" Naruto asked, and he knew the raw hunger showed in his voice.

"I always intended to tell you, once you became a genin, but… with everything that happened that day… I guess I didn't feel ready," his mother continued. "I can't tell you what you want to know about how Amaya died, but… this I can tell you.

"I first met your father in the academy here," she said, "and I thought he was a total loser." She laughed softly. "I've never been more wrong and never been happier to be wrong."

She opened the photo album, and on the first page was a large shot of her, young and healthy, caught in the middle of giving a tackling hug to a very familiar-looking blond man in a Leaf chuunin uniform. Naruto swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. "That's," he started, but he wasn't able to finish the sentence.

"Your father, Naruto," his mother said, "was Namikaze Minato, the Hidden Village of the Leaf's Fourth Hokage."

  


* * *

  


Sakura's house was silent and dark. The only light on was the one over the kitchen table, as she slowly ate the sandwich she'd made herself for dinner. This wasn't the first time her father had left on missions, of course, but always before Mizuki had come by to check on her from time to time. Now, Mizuki was… not available. There was no one else.

No longer hungry, she left the half-eaten sandwich on her plate and aimlessly wandered into the front sitting room, not bothering to turn on the light. A little illumination leaked out of the kitchen, enough for her to see by as she found herself standing by her father's armchair. Almost on its own, her hand - the one she'd cut earlier - reached out and rubbed the worn upholstery. She wished her father was here.

There was a knock on the front door, making Sakura start. She fumbled with the lock for a moment, then thought to look through the peephole before opening the door. "Iruka-sensei," she said confusedly.

The scarred chuunin shifted, obviously uncomfortable, and he lifted up a box of takeout. "I… I was thinking, that your father left on a mission this morning, and I know that Mizuki-sensei used to check on you when that happened, and since… I heard you were injured…" He trailed off, looking Sakura up and down. Sakura glanced away until he was done and the man had managed to hide his wary expression. "You… uh… you like anko dango, right?" asked the teacher.

Sakura nodded, and slowly stepped aside to let the man into her house. Iruka frowned as he took in the darkness. Sakura reached for light switch again and turned on the lights. She wordlessly led Iruka back to the kitchen, and gestured at the kitchen table. Iruka stared at her unfinished dinner for a moment, but didn't say anything as he seated himself opposite Sakura's seat.

"I… I can put tea on," Sakura said, stumbling over the words. She knew what a hostess was supposed to do, but she had no experience playing the role.

"It's not necessary," Iruka said, opening the box of dango.

Sakura sat down herself and took a skewer, pushing her dinner plate aside. "Thank you," she murmured as she bit into the sweet treat.

Iruka didn't reach for one. "Sasuke-kun said you… had a broken arm and chakra exhaustion."

He already knew what Sakura was. Most adults did, she knew, but Iruka had been there the night she'd found out herself, which meant that he knew that she knew. "The arm… healed," she said, hoping Iruka would leave it at that. "My chakra recovered."

A thoughtful look passed over Iruka's face, for a moment displacing the cautious, uncomfortable expression he'd worn this whole time. Sakura knew that he was searching his memory for any indication of such regeneration from her academy days. There wasn't any. Her cuts and scrapes had taken as long to heal as anyone else's, but that had been before she'd first felt the burning anger of the Nine-Tails inside of her.

"Haruno-kun," Iruka said slowly. Then he hesitated and awkwardly said, "Sakura-chan," for the first time that Sakura could remember. "You remember when we were testing chakra capacity in the academy?" Sakura nodded. It had been done quarterly, the last two years in the academy. The students had been ordered to channel as much chakra as they could, for as long as they could, until it began to hurt. Sakura had never been among the first few to drop out, but she'd only lasted much longer than them in the very last test. "How long did it take you to start to recover?" Iruka asked.

Sakura shifted in her seat, but she was too tired and drained to lie. "About ten minutes."

"Ten… Sakura-chan," the chuunin said, "even jounin take close to an hour of rest before their chakra reserves start to rebuild themselves from heavy exertion."

Sakura looked away. "I know."

Iruka licked his lips. "You should have told me," he said. "I could have customized your training plan to -"

"Or you could have just looked at me the way you did when you saw my arm wasn't broken," Sakura said bitterly. Then she swallowed, realizing what she'd said. "I'm sorry."

Now Iruka looked away. "No," he said quietly. "You're probably right. I wish… I wish I had been otherwise." He fell silent. "It was… too easy to just ignore you, and let Mizuki handle everything. I'm sorry."

Sakura didn't know what to say.

Iruka smiled sadly. "Mizuki-sensei wrote on your final evaluation that when a student as self-evidently bright as you are, with no record of discipline problems, was ranked last in the class, it was obvious that the fault lay with her teachers.

"I imagine he was right."

"There was…" Sakura swallowed. "There was good enough reason."

"You're far too easy on us, Sakura-chan," Iruka said with a shake of his head.

Sakura looked at her half-eaten skewer of dango and took another bite. After a moment, Iruka reached out and took a skewer out of the box for himself, and they ate in silence until the dango were gone.

  


* * *

  


_The moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky the encampment of the Leaf team, one day's journey along the road to Wave Country. Disarmed and tied securely to a tree trunk, the Demon Brothers, once of the Mist, did not sleep, hoping in vain for a chance to escape before they were turned over to the closest Leaf guard post in the morning. The bright eyes of one of the three wolf-like dogs stayed on the pair, even as the only other member of the the team awake, one of the male genin, poked the dying embers of their campfire with a stick._

_Suddenly, he stood, wandering over to where the dog watched the prisoners, and laid one hand on the dog's back. The animal's eyes flickered closed, and one of the Mist missing ninja stirred as much as he could in his bonds. "What are you doing, kid?" he asked, the first either had spoken since they'd awakened after their capture._

_The genin didn't answer, his hands instead flicking through seals. White feathers that almost seemed to glow in the dim light drifted downward over his teammates and their client. The civilian turned over on his back and began to snore._

_"Genjutsu," the other Mist hissed._

_The boy smiled, one hand reaching to his glasses to adjust them. They caught the moonlight for an instant, glowing a harsh, too-bright light. "The Demon Brothers, Gouzu and Meizo," he announced, walking over to the prisoners. "Rumored to be employed by the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza."_

_"How did you -" Meizo began, only to cut off._

_"Ah," the genin sighed. "It's been so long since I had a chance to cut loose and… play." He raised one hand, sickly green chakra gathering around it. "Please try to resist the interrogation," he said. "I'd hate for this to be over too soon. Feel free to scream, if it helps. My teammates won't hear._

_"And don't worry. There won't be a mark on your body or a memory of this in your heads when you wake in the morning."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) It's been a while since I wrote anything, huh? Hopefully my skills have not atrophied too much in the interim.
> 
> 2) I'm aware that there have been major revelations about the nature of the tailed beasts in canon since I last worked on this story. I am not planning to work those revelations into this story, but I'm not planning to go out of my way to explicitly deny them, either. It will take an open mind and willingness to read between the lines, but you should be able to consider those revelations to be true for this story if you prefer. Or not, if you don't!
> 
> 3) As always, my thanks go out to everyone who commented on the drafts of this chapter on The Fanfiction Forum, Space Battles, and the FFML.
> 
> Draft Started: March 04, 2012  
> Draft Finished: March 29, 2012  
> Draft Released: March 30, 2012  
> Final Released: April 03, 2012


	5. Missions

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case… oh, forget it.

* * *

"I've heard," Uzumaki Naruto remarked as Team Seven waited on the outskirts of Otafuku Gai's main market square, "that genin teams' first C-rank missions always go wrong. I wonder what's going to happen to us."

Haruno Sakura shivered once, impulsively glancing around the square even though she knew she would hardly find enemy ninja hiding behind a fruit-seller's stall. "Don't say things like that, Naruto-kun," she said.

"I wouldn't say always," Hatake Kakashi said, glancing up from his copy of the original Gutsy Shinobi book.

Sakura, for all that she was ranked last in her class in the academy, was far from stupid. It was the more important practical portion of the curriculum that had dragged her down. "You mean they do go wrong." Her hand unthinkingly checked the hilt of the kunai hidden near the slit of her red dress. Uchiha Sasuke, standing a short distance away from the rest of his team, looked up, for the first time showing interest in the conversation.

"Any mission can go wrong," Kakashi said easily, flipping to the next page. 

Naruto crossed his arms. "I sense a 'but' there."

Kakashi closed his book. "But," he said. Then he shrugged.

Sasuke grunted in… was it annoyance or realization? Sakura couldn't tell.

"Hey, bastard," Naruto said. "What's that supposed to mean? It's too early in the morning for me to translate for you."

Sasuke shot his friend a glare, but with a roll of his dark eyes he spoke. "Kakashi-sensei means that genin's first C-ranks go wrong more often than ordinary. Idiot."

Kakashi's mask wrinkled. "Two points for Sasuke-kun," he said. "Second question: why?"

"Inexperience," Naruto answered swiftly.

Kakashi raised a finger. "One point for a half-answer, Naruto-kun."

If the inexperience of fresh genin teams was only half the answer, there was only one thing the rest could be. "Because the missions we're given are riskier?" Sakura asked, disbelieving.

Another finger was raised. "One point for Sakura-chan. The C-ranks believed to have the highest risk of complications are given to either the most experienced or the newest genin teams. And the preference is to give them to the new teams over the veteran ones. Final question: why would that be?" He lowered his fingers.

Naruto frowned. "The experienced teams can best handle something going wrong."

"No points for stating the obvious."

Sakura thought about it for a moment. "Because… because fresh genin teams have a jounin teacher with them!" she stated, realization dawning.

Naruto blinked. "Of course! If the Leaf Village is going to waste a jounin's time on a C-rank, it might as well be the ones where we're worried something might go wrong."

Kakashi nodded. "Excellent work, Sakura-chan. Two points." He paused. "Final class evaluations." He pointed at Naruto. "With one point, dead last." The blond boy pouted, but his eyes stayed bright, and followed Kakashi's finger eagerly to Sasuke. "Middle of the road at two points." The Uchiha just snorted and looked away. Kakashi turned his attention to Sakura. "And with three points, our number one student."

Sakura flushed, and Naruto grinned at her. "Congratulations, Sakura-chan."

"Don't mock me," Sakura muttered. She wasn't stupid, she knew that, but she also knew her real class ranking was no less accurate for that.

Naruto winced. "I wouldn't," he said, and Sakura let herself believe him and ventured a faint smile. Sasuke snorted again, and Sakura slumped.

"In accordance with these results," Kakashi said, "Sakura-chan, you'll be second-in-command on this mission."

Sakura blinked. "What?" she asked, panic and terror suddenly gnawing at her insides.

Sasuke took a step toward their teacher. "The Hell?" he demanded.

Kakashi's eye wandered over to him. "Is there a problem, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's face twisted into an expression Sakura didn't like, but all he said was, "No, sir."

"Good," Kakashi said. "We've still got a little while before the client arrives, so we can get some practice in. I want us to sweep this market for enemy ninja." Naruto chuckled, and Kakashi inclined his head at him. "Overconfidence can get you killed. Sasuke-kun wasn't wrong to worry that your followers could be enemies on your last mission."

"Yes, sir," Naruto said.

"Sakura-chan, how should we proceed?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura swallowed and tried to remember her academy lessons. "Half-squads of two," she said. "Circle the market in opposite directions." A tiny part of her wanted to seize the opportunity to be alone with Sasuke, but she knew that with his current mood that was a poor idea. "Sasuke-kun, would you go with…" Sakura trailed off for a second. She'd intended to place him with Naruto and herself with Kakashi, balancing the teams by matching the weakest combatant with the strongest, but that would also put the real commander and the notional second-in-command on the same half-squad. "Kakashi-sensei?" she finished. "Naruto-kun with me."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll do clockwise. Sasuke-kun?" The dark-haired boy grunted, but the grunt seemed slightly less irritable that Sakura had expected, and he followed their teacher.

Naruto smiled at her. "Ready?" he asked.

Sakura nodded, and they started making their way counter-clockwise around the market square, which was beginning to fill with morning customers.

"Don't worry about the bastard, Sakura-chan," Naruto said. "I'll get him into line if Kakashi-sensei doesn't."

Sakura looked at him. "You think Kakashi-sensei really meant that second-in-command stuff?"

"He had you plan this, didn't he?" Naruto replied. "Sure, it's a lesson or a test or something like that too, but I think he meant it."

Sakura didn't really care for that idea, but she knew it would be futile to try and change their teacher's mind. They paused to let a woman herding a trio of children cross their path. "Does he hate me?" she found herself asking.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said. "Nah. He probably hates that he came in second to you in the pop quiz, though."

The only ninja they found on their transit were their teammates making the opposite circuit and a genin Nara kunoichi haggling with a merchant over a bolt of silk cloth imported from Earth Country. When they met Kakashi and Sasuke again back where they'd started, the jounin pronounced himself satisfied.

"Let's review," he said, "since our client seems to be running late. Our mission is to escort a merchant and his goods to the Frost Country, where we'll trade them off to foreign ninja who will escort them the rest of the way to their final destination in Lightning Country."

"We know," Naruto griped. "We went over all this the day before yesterday."

"And I asked you to study the countries we'll be visiting," Kakashi said. "What can you tell the class about the Hot Springs Country, Naruto-kun?"

"Borders the Fire and Frost Countries," Naruto answered. "Shockingly, famed for its natural hot springs. Hidden village, also named Hot Springs. Allies of the Cloud, but limited in size and largely demilitarized as part of the peace treaties following the recent war with Cloud."

"Very good," Kakashi said. "Frost Country, Sasuke-kun?"

The Uchiha didn't answer for a moment, then said, "Cloud allies. The daimyo is also the jounin commander of their hidden village."

Kakashi nodded easily. "So, we'll be going into two non-allied countries with hidden villages. That's why the mission office considers this C-rank mission risky. Sakura-chan, what are the standard procedures?"

"In peacetime," Sakura recited from memory, "we are to wear our forehead protectors visibly at all times. We inform the native ninja on entering and leaving the country. We do not stray from our declared travel plans. We do not engage the native ninja unless attacked first. We abide by those laws of the country agreed to in the compacts signed with those hidden villages."

"Correct," Kakashi said. "And now I believe someone wishes to speak with us."

Sakura followed her teacher's gaze to a young woman hovering a few feet away. Sakura judged her to be perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old, her light brown hair kept up in a coiled braid. Her pink, long-sleeved shirt and dark trousers were sturdier looking than what most civilians wore in the Leaf Village. The woman bowed to Kakashi before introducing herself. "I am Araimi, daughter of Keikan."

Kakashi returned the bow, but not as deeply. "Hatake Kakashi, jounin of the Leaf."

"My father is regrettably delayed," the woman said. "He wished me to ask if you would prefer to await him with our carts at the Five Blossoms Inn."

"Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked. "What do you think, as second-in-command?"

Sakura flushed, but she answered. "The mission scroll said we were to meet here," she said. "And Araimi-san's name and description weren't in it as contact information, only Keikan-san's."

Kakashi nodded. "Correct," he said. "I'm afraid we must wait here, young lady," he said.

The woman didn't seem distraught, instead smiling broadly and clapping her hands. "That's what Papa said you should say," she said. "He'll be ten more minutes." Her reddish-brown eyes looked at something over Sakura's shoulder. "Excuse me," she said, and then she slipped past the four ninja with enough grace that Sakura thought she'd have done well in the academy's taijutsu classes.

Sakura half-turned to follow the other girl, and watched as she approached a fruit-seller and moments later returned with a bag of fresh apples. Araimi pulled one out and took a massive bite as she rejoined the ninja and stood next to Sakura. As if on cue, Naruto's stomach rumbled.

"Please tell me you ate breakfast, idiot," Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed. "Ah, I sort of overslept just a little?" he said, drawing a weary sigh from Sasuke. Naruto took a step toward the two girls, his eyes glancing at the bag of apples. "So, Araimi-chan," he began, smiling broadly. Sakura chuckled despite herself.

Araimi pulled out another apple and held it out to Naruto. "Would you like one, ah…" 

"Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced himself, taking the apple. "Thanks."

A third apple appeared in the woman's hand. "No apples for me," Kakashi said before she could offer.

Araimi nodded, and then she held it out to Sakura. "You are?"

"Haruno Sakura," she answered, and reflexively she watched for the flicker of recognition and wariness to enter Araimi's eyes. Nothing happened, and Sakura realized that there was no reason for this civilian girl to have ever heard of her. Gingerly she took the apple, even though she wasn't hungry, since it would be rude to refuse. "Thank you," Sakura said, before biting into it.

Araimi glanced at Sasuke, her hand hovering over the opening of her bag of fruit, but the boy didn't say anything.

Araimi shrugged, then whispered to Sakura. "I guess I'll just call him Grumpy."

Sakura giggled, then, mortified, glanced at Sasuke. The boy rolled his eyes, but Sakura thought she detected a hint of a smirk before he turned away, scanning the growing market crowd for their client. "That's Sasuke-kun," she told Araimi.

The brown-haired girl shrugged, taking another bite of her apple. "Grumpy-kun," she declared. "I'm glad to see a kunoichi," she said after another bite. "The last few times Papa hired ninja, all we got were boring old guys who wouldn't talk to me." Another bite. "Like the apple?"

Sakura realized she hadn't been eating, so she took a couple bites herself. "It's good," she said. "Thank you again." Naruto had finished devouring his apple and was hunting for a trash can to throw the core into. Sakura looked up at Kakashi, and saw her teacher standing at ease, his eye only occasionally glancing about to keep track of his students. He winked at her when he noticed her attention. Sakura guessed that was an instruction to keep talking to the client's daughter. "You're interested in ninja, Araimi-san?"

"Isn't everyone?" Araimi asked. She finished her own apple, even eating the core. "And Araimi-chan is fine," she continued, spitting out a mouthful of apple seeds.

Sakura took another bite of her apple and swallowed before replying. "Then you can call me Sakura-chan," she said, trying to keep her nervousness at the easy familiarity from showing.

Araimi grinned. "I think we'll get along just fine, Sakura-chan," she said.

A tall man with gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard emerged from the crowd and drew near. "I see you found our ninja, Araimi," he said.

The girl nodded. "Yes, Papa, and they passed your little test."

The man nodded back, then bowed to Kakashi. "I am Keikan," he said. He held out a sheath of papers. "My client registration, and the export license as your village required for confirmation."

Kakashi introduced himself again and flipped through the papers. "Seems to be in order," he said, handing the papers back. "We're at your service, Keikan-san. Lead the way."

The man asked the genin for their names, and this time Sasuke answered as well. He then led them through Otafuku Gai to an inn on the edge of town, where he and his daughter retrieved a pair of one-horse carts, the beds covered with cloth. "I assume you will wish to inspect the cargo, Hatake-san?" Keikan asked.

"It's usually wise," Kakashi said, "in order to avoid potential misunderstandings."

Keikan lifted the cloth covering of the first cart, revealing rows of neatly stacked wooden boxes. Kakashi picked one up, and gestured for his team to drawn near. Sakura's eyes glanced over the engravings on the box's cover, seeing that it was a box of cigars. Kakashi, however, drew their attention to the two slips of paper glued over the side of the box, so it couldn't be opened without breaking them. "This one," he said, pointing at the first, red one, "indicates that the Fire Country has collected taxes on the cigars' production." He point at the other paper, which was gold. "This indicates that the taxes for export to Lightning Country are already paid."

"It saves time," Keikan said, "as compared to paying at the border." Kakashi nodded, and set the box back into the cart. Keikan replaced the cloth covering, then moved over to the second cart and uncovered it. This one contained a few more boxes of cigars, but mainly held what looked to Sakura to be traveling provisions.

Kakashi inspected the seals on another cigar box, then nodded. "Everything looks to be in order, Keikan-san," he said.

The man nodded and returned to the first cart, sitting up behind the horse. "Araimi," he called.

The girl jumped up into the same position on the second cart. "Ready, Papa."

Keikan nodded. "Pushing the horses is counter-productive," he told Kakashi, "so I keep an easy pace. You shouldn't have difficulty keeping up on foot, but there's space to ride also."

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi said. "Ride with Araimi-san. Sasuke-kun, with Keikan-san. Naruto-kun, walk along the left flank a little behind the carts; I'll take the right and ahead. We'll switch positions every two hours."

As soon as everyone was in position, Keikan started off, and Araimi made a soft noise and with a flick of the reins made her horse follow. She grinned at Sakura. "Your teacher's nice," she said.

"I guess so," Sakura replied.

Araimi's smile widened. "So, Sakura-chan, what's it like being a kunoichi?"

  


* * *

  


Early in the evening on the day Naruto's team left on their first C-rank, the Hidden Village of the Leaf's Third Hokage called on his mother at her home. Ordinarily, Kushina would not have requested such a visit; both of them knew that he would never refuse such a request from her, but Kushina respected the demands on the Hokage's time too much to abuse the privilege. But with Naruto out of the village, she would have had to ask for the Hokage to send someone to take her to the Hokage Tower.

Kushina knew it was foolish pride, but she hated to have to ask such a thing, even as much as she hated the bitter jealousy she couldn't help feeling when she watched Naruto train. Twelve years was a long time - it was the whole of her son's young life - but it was not long enough for Kushina to accept being a cripple. In her darkest, most shameful moments, she still sometimes wished she had died instead, even with everything she had to live for. Minato would be disgusted, but no more than she was with herself whenever she regained her senses.

Kushina shook herself from her foul musings and opened her front door to admit the Hokage. She didn't spy any guards watching, and it was possible that there were none. The Uzumaki home was in the heart of the Leaf Village, and even in his old age the God of Shinobi was more than capable of defending himself. "Thank you for coming, Hokage-sama," Kushina murmured as she wheeled herself out of the man's way.

The Hokage stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "Any time."

"This way," Kushina said, leading him toward her dining room table. "I've put tea on; it will be just a moment."

The Hokage sat down patiently as Kushina made her way to her kitchen. Like the rest of her home, it was designed to account for her disability, and she didn't need any help to make tea, at least. She busied herself for a few minutes finishing it, letting the familiar task wash over her and keep her mind off of more serious matters.

When she returned to the dining room, her guest had taken off his outer robe and hat, hanging them on the back of his chair. "Thank you, Kushina-chan," Sarutobi Hiruzen told his friend as he accepted a cup of tea.

"It's a new blend," Kushina commented, "domestically produced. I think it might rival Tea Country's."

Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, taking a few sips. "It just might."

Kushina drank her own tea, the warm liquid soothing her raw throat. "Any excitement today?"

Hiruzen shrugged. "I assigned Asuma's team their first C-rank this afternoon, checking the supply caches along the southern coast. They'll leave tomorrow, which will mean all three rookie teams are out. Iruka-sensei is practically biting his nails, but maybe he'll calm down once Yuuhi-san's team makes it back later this week."

Kushina nodded. "I don't think our teacher was any calmer back in my day, not that we genin cared to notice."

"Koharu was the same way with her kids," Hiruzen said. "Some things should never change." He took another sip, smiling over the rim of his cup. "So what did you want to talk about, Kushina-chan?"

Kushina decided not to beat around the bush. "I told Naruto the truth about his father."

Hiruzen set his cup down. "I see." He was silent for a moment, and then the Hokage spoke. "I suppose we did just agree to wait at least until he was a genin. I might have waited a bit longer, but he's a mature young man. He won't go boasting of it, I'm sure." The man took another sip. "How did he take the news?" Hiruzen asked.

Kushina knew that her eyes were watering, and she didn't care. "I wish I'd told him sooner," she said. "It was wrong to deny him his father for so long."

"There's more reason than legal technicalities that we didn't call him Namikaze Naruto, Kushina-chan," Hiruzen said.

"I know," Kushina said.

For a few minutes they chatted on inconsequential matters, until they had finished their tea. "It's been a while since we've had a chance to talk in private," Hiruzen said, setting down his empty cup and waving off Kushina before she could refill it.

"Not since Naruto's graduation," Kushina said, her voice cracking.

Hiruzen's eyes stared into Kushina's. "I know you too well, Kushina-chan. Go ahead."

"What the hell were you thinking, Hiruzen?" Kushina shouted. Then she doubled over, coughing. Hiruzen waited for her to recover. "Why did you put Haruno Sakura on Naruto's team?"

"I hardly think," Hiruzen said, "that you would be one to object to the demon girl being teammates with your son."

"You know that's not it," Kushina said. "Don't try to get out of this with a joke." With a shaking hand, she poured herself more tea, then drank it as quickly as its heat allowed. "I promised Takeru," Kushina said, "that I'd leave the girl alone. You're making it difficult."

"That was," Hiruzen said, "as I'm sure you know, Kushina-chan, entirely the point."

"Kakashi-kun is starting to suspect," Kushina pressed, "that he doesn't know all there is to know about what happened when Naruto was born."

"Entirely your own fault," Hiruzen said, "since you insisted on telling the children that you killed Haruno Amaya."

Kushina grimaced. "It's my fault she's dead," she said.

"You didn't kill her," Hiruzen stated calmly. "You know that."

"It wasn't my hand that held the kunai," Kushina said. "That's all." Her hands clenched, so hard she feared her nails might draw blood. "Or would you prefer Takeru and I tell them the truth, Hiruzen?" she asked bitterly. "It's not just Haruno Amaya's blood on my hands, old man, and you know it." Hers more than most, but it was far from alone.

"Every man, woman, and child who died on that day," Kushina stated. "Would you like me to explain that they all died because of me, because I selfishly wanted a child of my own? Should I tell Naruto that that his own birth was the instrument of his father's death? Should I tell that poor girl that every burden she carries, every ounce of hatred she struggles under, should be mine? Do you want her to blame Naruto?"

Kushina began to cough, and found she couldn't stop, doubling over in her wheelchair again. Hiruzen poured her more tea, and Kushina forced herself to drink between heaving coughs. Slowly, she regained  
control. "What were you hoping to accomplish, throwing the girl and me together?"

Hiruzen sighed. "Do you think I am blind, Kushina-chan?" he asked, but he didn't wait for an answer. "Do you think that it doesn't hurt, to see you tear yourself to pieces watching Sakura-kun from a distance? Do you think that I do not feel guilt when I look at her, that I do not wish to do whatever poor things I can to ease her burdens?"

"She hates me, as well she should. How could making her meet me -" Kushina began.

"Kushina-chan," Hiruzen said. "How can you even ask that question? Out of all the people in this world, only you can truly understand what burden she carries."

"I can only begin to understand," Kushina said. "I didn't grow up with this whole village knowing what I was," she spat out bitterly. "She has."

"Do you think I don't regret that?" Hiruzen said sadly. "You know there were too many witnesses; word spread too rapidly for anything else. All I could do was hope that the village would choose to honor Minato's final wishes.

"But even if you can only begin to understand, at least you can begin. I can't do that," Hiruzen continued. "Her father can't do that; Kakashi-kun can't do that. Only you, Kushina-chan."

Kushina looked away. "I promised," she said tightly. "I don't go back on my word." She almost had, once before, when Naruto had first met Sakura, overjoyed that the hatred his peers had learned from their parents hadn't infected him. She wouldn't again.

Hiruzen closed his eyes briefly. "You asked me what I was hoping to accomplish, forcing you to meet Sakura-kun, didn't you, Kushina-chan? I hoped to ease your own pain, by giving you a chance to see that she was not as ill-treated as you might fear. I hoped to inspire you to seek reconciliation with her father. I hoped Haruno Takeru might, for the sake of his daughter, set aside some of his bitterness and let you aid her.

"Barring that, I hoped you would have the human decency to not see foolish promises as more important than the girl in front of you."

Kushina stared at the familiar wooden grain of the tabletop. "Those promises… might be the only reason I'm alive today," she admitted shamefully. "Don't call them foolish so lightly."

"Kushina-chan?" Hiruzen asked quietly.

Kushina took a deep, shuddering breath, and then she began to speak again.

_When Uzumaki Kushina swam back into consciousness this time, the first face she saw was Tsunade's apprentice. "Kushina-sama?" the dark-haired girl called softly, leaning over her._

_It was all Kushina could do to twitch her hand. She couldn't feel anything below her waist. Above it, all she felt was pain. She felt cold and burning inside alternately, a cavernous, painful emptiness that would never fill. Her thoughts came slowly, struggling against the clouds of pain and drugs. "Shizune," she croaked out slowly in a rough, cracking voice she didn't recognize._

_"You asked," the girl started, then faltered. "You asked to be woken up, when Haruno-san was ready to speak with you."_

_Kushina shuddered, as much as she could in her casts and bandages, and she turned her head to find her friend's husband at her other side, staring at her with dead green eyes. "Takeru-kun," Kushina said._

_"The… the Third, Hokage-sama… he told me… is it true, Kushina-chan?" He grabbed one of her hands, but Kushina couldn't feel the pressure through the cast. "Tell me it's a lie."_

_"Truth," Kushina whispered. "All… truth."_

_"Then you are… were… and all this… Amaya's death… everything…"_

_"My fault," Kushina said. "S… sorry."_

_Takeru released her hand, shaking with barely contained emotion. "Damn it, Kushina-chan. Don't you dare imagine 'sorry' is enough. Damn you."_

_"Haruno-san!" Shizune protested. The girl was too kind by half._

_Kushina tried to wave her off, but only managed to raise her hand a little. "Damn… me," she agreed. If anyone deserved damnation, it was her._

_"Do you know, Kushina-chan?" Takeru asked. "What Hoka… what Minato did to Sakura-chan? Did to my daughter?"_

_Kushina couldn't speak, her aching throat choked with tears. She managed to move her head in a hesitant nod. Another victim of her selfish desires, another innocent she had wronged._

_"They tried to take her away from me!" Kushina's eyes widened in shock. "A 'vital village military asset,'" Takeru snapped out. "That's what they called Sakura-chan."_

_"Sa… Saru… tobi," Kushina choked out._

_"Hokage-sama stopped them," Takeru said. "But… you… you and Minato… it's your fault anyone even tried. Because of what you did to her, they tried to steal my daughter from me."_

_Kushina couldn't bear to look at him anymore. "I…" she started, but she couldn't get out what she wanted to say. She knew that she owed more than could ever be repaid. "An… anything… I can…" She struggled to get out each word, a racking cough forcing itself from her lungs._

_"Kushina-sama!" Shizune shouted. "Haruno-san, she's too weak. You can't -"_

_"Don't tell me what I can't do, girl!" the man roared. "She killed my wife! She almost stole my daughter from me!"_

_"Anything," Kushina said again, desperately searching for the strength to speak. "Anything you… want. What… ever…" Whatever she could give. Whatever pathetic restitution she could make before Tsunade let her die._

_"What I want?" Takeru asked quietly. "What I want is to walk out of that door and see Amaya. What I want is for that damned seal to not be over my daughter's stomach. What I want you can't give me."_

_The man shuddered once. "And I don't want anything you can give. Just… leave Sakura alone. Let my daughter live a normal life."_

_"I… promise," Kushina said. It would be easy enough. "Dead… soon enough." Kushina looked away from the man._

_"Kushina-sama," Shizune breathed._

_Takeru grabbed her head, forcing her to look back at him. "Damn you, Kushina," he growled. "Don't you dare die. You don't deserve it. You should have to see what you've done."_

_Takeru released her suddenly, his next words soft. "And don't you dare leave Naruto an orphan, Kushina-chan."_

_"Naruto," Kushina croaked, tears filling her eyes. Her son. Minato's son. How could… what kind of mother was she, to so eagerly await death?_

_"Live, damn you, Kushina," Takeru whispered. "Promise me that too."_

_Kushina swallowed painfully. "I promise."_

Hiruzen's face was grave as he studied Kushina. "I'm glad you're able to talk about it now," he finally said. "It was a natural reaction, Kushina-chan."

Kushina shook her head. "If I didn't already hate myself, that would be enough reason, that I would have let Naruto grow up without a mother or a father." She looked away. "It's another debt I owe Takeru that I can never repay."

There was silence for a minute. "I think you would have pulled through regardless, Kushina-chan, but be that as it may," Hiruzen said gently, "I ask that you consider something."

"What?"

"You hated Senju Mito-dono," Hiruzen said. "I remember you swearing you would never forgive her for picking you and taking you away from your parents, your friends, and your village. It took her a year of trying before you would say a civil word to her.

"But, now, would you rather have never met her, Kushina-chan?"

There was silence again, and Hiruzen stood, putting his robe and hat back on. "Thank you for the tea, Kushina-chan," the Hokage said. "Don't trouble yourself on my account; I can let myself out."

He did so, and Kushina, lost in thought, didn't leave her dinner table until she tired and had to go to bed.

  


* * *

  


The first two days of Team Seven's first C-rank mission went smoothly. Keikan took them northeast through rich farmland along well-traveled routes, and they passed more than one patrol of guardsmen employed by the local lesser daimyo. Although Kakashi warned them to keep their guard up, Sakura found it hard to stay on edge. It seemed incredibly unlikely that any trouble would occur, although part of Sakura recognized that if there was no chance of trouble a merchant like Keikan would never have spent the money to hire a ninja escort.

On the third day, after a rainy night, they left the farmland behind and started their long ascent into the wooded hills and mountains that stretched between the Fire and Lightning Countries. The road grew narrower, there were no more patrols, and they passed only a handful of travelers. In the geography classes in the academy, Sakura had learned that these borderlands were only lightly settled. In centuries past, before the era of the hidden villages, raiding ninja clans from the heights had driven settlers away; the not infrequent wars with the Cloud alliance since had much the same effect.

When it was her turn to ride beside Keikan, Sakura asked the merchant why there was so little traffic along the road, if it was a major route to the Lightning Country.

"There's several reasons, Haruno-kun," Keikan said. "Tariffs with the countries in the Lightning Country's alliance are high, so it only makes sense to move goods that are very valuable."

"Like the cigars?" Sakura asked. She'd never really looked at them, but she didn't think they were that expensive.

"We grow a lot of tobacco in this country," Keikan answered the unspoken question, "so it's much cheaper. Cigars will fetch at least five times what they cost here anywhere in the north; these will go for more since they're a quality brand.

"The other main reason there's not a lot of traffic is that it's a hard road through the mountains, particularly with winter coming. If there's a early storm, we could get stuck somewhere in Hot Springs or Frost Country until spring. Most trade during these months is by ship."

"So why," Sakura began.

"There's a company, Gatou Corporation, that's gained control of most shipping in this region," Keikan answered.

"And they're driving up the prices," Sakura said, puzzling through the rest quickly. "But you think that by moving the cigars by land and not having to pay Gatou Corporation, you can undercut your competitors who did move cigars by ship, even after what you're paying us."

Keikan smiled at her. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, Haruno-kun, maybe better than my daughter," he said, loud enough that Araimi could hear from the cart behind them.

"Papa!" the other girl protested.

Sakura glanced back apologetically, but Araimi just grinned. Seated beside her, Kakashi winked at Sakura over the cover of his book. He was on The Gutsy Shinobi Returns, having loaned the original to Araimi.

Walking alongside Keikan's cart, Naruto laughed. "We won't trade her, Keikan-san."

The merchant stroked his gray beard. "What if I throw in first refusal on the shipment of chakra-conducting kunai from Earth Country I'll be bringing in next year?" he asked lightly. "And I'll pay for Araimi's apple budget for the first three months."

Naruto looked thoughtful, and Sakura flushed. "No selling your teammates, Naruto-kun," Kakashi called out.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" the blond boy replied in a singsong voice; Sakura imagined she heard Sasuke snort in amusement from the rear of the small caravan.

"Time for us to rotate," Kakashi ordered, and Sakura switched places with Naruto. She moved a bit more ahead than Naruto had been, fearing that Keikan's conversation with the boy would continue to be embarrassing.

In the lead, she was the first to spot the stuck wagon, and she immediately retreated and signaled for a halt. "What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Covered wagon ahead about a hundred and fifty yards, around the bend." Sakura said as she dropped back to them. "It looks like it is stuck in some mud."

"How many people?" Kakashi asked quietly, walking up to Sakura from his position in the rear.

"I only saw one," Sakura said. "He was trying to get the wagon unstuck."

"Do you think it is a trap, Hatake-san?" Keikan asked.

"Could be," Kakashi said easily. "What do you think we should do, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura winced at the reminder that she was supposed to be his second-in-command on this mission. "Umm… we can't really avoid him," Sakura said. "Maybe… someone should covertly move ahead, check for ambushers, while the rest of us approach and offer assistance?"

"Just as I would suggest," Kakashi said gently. "Naruto-kun, you'll be with me in the trees. Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan, you'll stay with Keikan-san."

"Yes, sir," the genin chorused, and a few moments later the carts were on their way once more.

There was no signal from Kakashi or Naruto, so they stopped again when they reached the stuck wagon. Sakura nervously glanced at the cloth covering, wondering if it concealed a pack of bandits, but when the swearing man struggling with the wagon looked up, Keikan smiled.

"Noboru, old friend," Keikan said cheerfully. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The other man's face was hard, and his lips pressed together tightly. "Keikan," he returned. Sakura glanced back at Araimi, and saw that the other girl's face was carefully smooth.

"Would you like some help?" Keikan asked Noboru. "I have some ninja with me; we should be able to get you out in a few minutes."

"I can hardly say no," the other man said.

Sakura and Sasuke moved up to help, and Keikan's estimate proved accurate; with all five people pushing they were able to free the stuck wheel without having to take the time to harness Keikan's horses to Noboru's wagon. Unfortunately, the wheel itself was badly damaged in the process, and Noboru cursed freely when he saw it.

"Bad luck, friend," Keikan said. "Do you have everything you need to repair it?"

Noboru nodded. "Thank you for the assistance," he said begrudgingly.

"Shouldn't take you more than a few hours to fix it," Keikan said. He glanced at the sky. "Although I guess it will be night by then," he allowed. Despite the innocuous words, there was a faint mocking town in Keikan's voice.

Sakura resisted the urge to lick her lips. She wasn't sure what was going on, but Keikan was clearly baiting the other man. One of her hands moved slightly toward the hilt of a kunai. She glanced at Sasuke, and found him similarly alert. The dark-haired boy nodded slightly.

Noboru's lips pressed together even tighter for a moment before he answered. "You don't want to be stuck out on the road for the night next to me… friend."

Keikan nodded, returning to his own cart and gesturing for Araimi to follow suit. "It's best we head on our way. Good trading, Noboru."

"Good trading," Noboru returned, and they left him behind.

Once they were out of sight, Kakashi and Naruto returned, and Kakashi jumped up onto Keikan's cart and seated himself beside their client. "Care to explain, Keikan-san?" Sakura heard him ask as she returned to her lead position.

The merchant chuckled. "Oh, Noboru? He's… well, you understand that when there are winners in the game of commerce, there are often also losers, yes? Years back, around the same time I met Araimi's mother actually, we played against each other in some currency speculation. I won; he lost. He's imagined we are rivals ever since."

"I see," Kakashi murmured.

"I didn't expect to run into him," Keikan said, "if that's what you're asking."

"Has this rivalry of yours ever turned violent?" Kakashi pressed.

"A few times," Keikan admitted, "but not for years, and never with ninja involvement." He shrugged. "It's part of business. He stays within the lines most of the time."

That comment left Sakura nervous, but the rest of the day's travel passed without incident, and they camped early in an unmanned roadside way station. Sakura was drawing water from a deep well dug behind it when a familiar voice called out, "We're coming in; don't throw anything at us!"

"Kiba!" Sakura heard Naruto shout out, and when Sakura came back into the way station, the jounin Yuuhi Kurenai and her student Inuzuka Kiba had joined them. The jounin kunoichi stood by the front door, discussing something quietly with Kakashi; Kiba had wandered over to the open hearth, where Naruto was working on lighting a fire. Sasuke stood by the wall near them, and he nodded as Sakura drew near.

Kiba looked up. "Oh, Haruno," he said. "Almost forgot you graduated."

Naruto shot a glare at the other boy. "Don't," he hissed, not quite quietly enough for Sakura to miss. Sakura felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

That was when Hinata came in through the front door. "Naruto!" she called out cheerfully, drawing a wave from the blond boy, as Aburame Shino followed her inside. "Sasuke-kun," Hinata greeted Sakura's other teammate, who gave her a slight nod. Her eyes met Sakura's, and the pink-haired girl looked away. "Sakura-san," she said, her voice a little cold.

Naruto coughed loudly, and Hinata looked at him, then sighed, turning back to Sakura and giving her an only slightly warmer, "Hello."

Sakura stammered out a reply, but fortunately for the next little while everyone busied themselves preparing a large dinner, with the newcomers pitching in some of their own provisions, and it wasn't until everyone was seated around the fire eating that conversation really continued.

"So, what have you all been up to?" Naruto asked the other team.

Seated beside him, Hinata smiled. "Investigating some bandit encampments that were cleaned out last year," the silver-eyed kunoichi answered. "We're on our way back now."

"Did you find anything?" Keikan asked worriedly.

"Not a thing," Kiba answered. "Emptier than Akamaru leaves his food bowl." The small white puppy looked up from its own meal and made a happy sounding bark. Kiba smiled and barked back at his partner.

"There were a few signs," Kurenai said, "that someone had come back after the last teams went through, but that was half a year ago. I wouldn't expect bandit trouble, at least not on this side of the border."

Kakashi nodded in gratitude to the other jounin. "Glad to hear it," he said.

"Disappointing is what it was," Kiba complained. "I wanted some action."

"Kiba-kun," Hinata chided.

"Sorry, Hinata-hime," the boy replied. Kurenai let out a quiet laugh. The other member of the team, the silent Shino, adjusted his dark glasses, but almost all of his attention remained on his food.

Sakura ignored most of the rest of the conversation, which mainly consisted of Naruto trading comparisons of their training with Kiba and Hinata. Araimi, sitting beside Sakura, was listening quietly, clearly fascinated, and the two jounin just seemed amused.

It was when the meal was just about finished when Kiba made his proposal. "Oy, Naruto," he said. "You want to spar?"

Naruto laughed. "I already know I can kick your ass, dog-breath!"

"Now it's on," Kiba said, standing and cracking his knuckles. "Cheer for me, all right, Hinata-hime?"

"No promises," Hinata answered, smiling.

Kiba placed a hand over his heart in mock pain, grinning. Sakura glanced at their teachers, wondering if the jounin would interrupt the incipient fight. "It's not a bad idea," Kurenai said to Kakashi instead. "Our teams have mainly been training against themselves since graduation." Sasuke made a noise that Sakura knew meant he was interested.

Sakura's teacher nodded. "All right," he said. "Let's take it out back and make it formal then." His eye wandered over the genin. "Naruto-kun will be sparring against Kiba-kun, it seems," he said.

Kiba grinned. "Damn straight."

"I will fight Uchiha-kun," Shino said suddenly. Sakura started at the unexpected voice. "Why?" the quiet ninja continued. "Because I wish to test myself."

Sasuke nodded, accepting the challenge.

Hinata looked over at Sakura. "I guess that leaves you and me, Sakura-san," she stated flatly. Sakura swallowed nervously. Her fear must have showed, because Hinata sighed. "Academy rules. I'm not going to use Gentle Fist on you," she said disgustedly. "I'm not a bully."

Sakura looked down in embarrassment. "All right," she said quietly.

"Academy rules are a good idea for everyone," Kakashi announced. "My team is still on a mission."

"What are academy rules, Sakura-chan?" Araimi asked in an undertone.

Glad for the distraction, Sakura answered quickly. "No weapons, no strikes with intent to cause serious injury, no ninjutsu other than the basic three." At Araimi's blank look, Sakura added, "Replication, replacement, and transformation." Not that the last was much use in a one-on-one spar.

A few minutes later, everyone gathered out behind the way station around a circle Kakashi had drawn in the dirt. "Shino-kun and Sasuke-kun first," Kurenai announced, drawing a grumble from Kiba that was quickly hushed by Hinata. Naruto's own grumble was only met with a roll of Sasuke's eyes.

The match was quick, as Sasuke demonstrated that his ranking as top in the class in taijutsu had not been a fluke by pinning Shino after less than a minute of fighting. Neither used any ninjutsu. The Aburame didn't seem especially disappointed though, nodding respectfully to his opponent and conceding the match.

"Sakura-kun and Hinata-kun," Kurenai announced next. Sakura took a moment to steel herself, then stood and joined Hinata in the circle. Sakura licked her lips as she studied her opponent. They might both be genin kunoichi, and they both might wear their hair long and unbound, but that was where the similarities between Hinata and her ended, Sakura thought.

Sakura had been dead last in the academy. Hinata had been the third-ranked kunoichi, but Sakura was certain that the only reason Ino and Ami had placed ahead of her was Hinata's disinterest in the competition in general and in the academy's taijutsu classes in particular. Even in those classes, though, Hinata had been well ahead of her. 

It wasn't just in the ninja arts that Hinata beat her. It was a stupid thing to worry about at the moment, but Sakura knew that her own looks - with her too-wide forehead and unusual hair color - were charitably described as unique. Hinata, on the other hand, was classically beautiful, even making the Hyuuga's strange eyes look attractive, and the lavender shirt and dark pants she wore showed off just enough curves to demonstrate that she was more developed without being even slightly immodest.

"Begin," Kurenai commanded, and Sakura shook herself from her musings as Hinata charged.

The Hyuuga heiress's hands flicked through seals, a trio of replications splitting from her form. Sakura had just enough time to glance down and check their shadows, letting her barely block the real Hinata's strike.

The replications vanished in puffs of smoke, and Sakura countered. Hinata leaned out of the way of her punch, then tried to grab Sakura's arm and pull her into a throw. Sakura managed to slip loose of her opponent's grasp and swept into a low kick.

Hinata danced out of the way. "You've gotten better, Sakura-san," she said, taking another step back.

"I have?" Sakura asked.

On the sidelines, Sakura saw Kakashi look up from his book out of the corner of her eye. "I'd be a poor teacher if you hadn't," he commented.

"You barely teach us any taijutsu!" Naruto complained. "All you do is give a couple tips, we do most of our sparring on our own, while we're… waiting… for you…" Naruto trailed off, and Kakashi laughed.

Hinata smiled briefly, and impulsively Sakura took advantage of the moment of distraction, summoning a replication of her own and closing with Hinata behind it. The other girl disrupted the replication with an open-palm strike, and Sakura attacked her other side.

Hinata blocked Sakura's first punch, caught the next, and countered, hitting Sakura in stomach. Sakura broke free and stumbled back, gasping for breath, and Hinata didn't press the attack. A brief moment of indecision passed on the Hyuuga girl's face, but then she said, "That wasn't bad, but it was a little too obvious, Sakura-san. With only one replication, try something like this instead."

With those words, Hinata advanced. Moments away from Sakura, she created a replication, almost on top of herself, and the two Hinata struck out in opposite directions. Sakura dodged backwards, not able to determine which was the real blow.

Hinata had anticipated this response, the replication turning to smoke even as she pressed her attack, forcing Sakura further back. Unable to gain distance, Sakura tried counter-attacking. Hinata went for a throw again, and this time Sakura wasn't able to escape.

Sakura landed well, rolling to her feet, but but the movement took her out of the circle. She stood as Hinata bowed shallowly to her. After a moment, Sakura returned the bow.

"That leaves Kiba-kun and Naruto-kun," Kurenai said. The boys eagerly raced into circle, and Sakura went back to her seat.

Next to her, Araimi asked, "How do those… replications work, Sakura-chan?"

"Umm…" Sakura said, wondering how much theory to get into. "They're a ninjutsu that creates a thin chakra shell in the shape of your own image."

"They have no physical substance," Hinata said as she - surprisingly - seated herself on Sakura's other side. In the circle, Naruto and Kiba's spar started to degenerate into a rough wrestling match.

"As soon as they touch anything, the chakra shell disrupts and the replication is destroyed," Sakura finished.

"Oh," Araimi said.

Sakura glanced at Hinata. "Good… good match, Hinata-san," she said.

The other kunoichi nodded. "You are getting better," she said. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Hinata continued, "Naruto says that your father had a good reason for telling you to stay away from him."

Sakura looked away. She really did not want to dwell on that topic. "We're friends now," she said. She hoped.

"And if your father says you can't be?" Hinata asked.

Beside Sakura, Araimi shifted uncomfortably. "I'm going to go check on the horses," she said, leaping to her feet and leaving the two kunoichi alone.

Sakura stared at the ground. "I don't know," she said. "I… really hope he doesn't."

Hinata made an annoyed noise. "My father forbid me to be friends with you," she commented, "when we first met."

Sakura swallowed. "Oh." If she had defied her father to make those first overtures alongside Naruto, then… no wonder the other girl had taken a disliking to her. "I'm… I'm sure he had a good reason also," Sakura said. He did, but Sakura couldn't tell the other girl what it was.

Hinata looked at Sakura for a long moment. "Don't make excuses for him," she said, sounding annoyed. "He's not the reason we're not friends."

"I know," Sakura said.

"For whatever reason, Naruto seems to like you despite everything," Hinata said. "So, for his sake, truce?"

Sakura had never really thought of the two of them as fighting, just ignoring each other, but she wasn't going to say no. "Okay."

"Good." Hinata glanced up at the ongoing fight. "Once those two finish their roughhousing, if you want we can work on your taijutsu before we settle in for the night."

"Thank you," Sakura said. "I'd like that."

Hinata, surprisingly, smiled. "I hope you remember you said that if we're both still sore tomorrow morning."

  


* * *

  


_The missing ninja waited in the trees for his prey to draw near, one hand on the hilt of his massive sword. He had observed them twice before since their arrival in the Wave Country earlier this morning; one did not survive for long as a missing ninja by jumping into fights without preparation._

_The only real challenge should be the squad leader, at least a chuunin by her armored jacket and a member of the Leaf's Inuzuka Clan by her tattoos and canine companions. He doubted she was a jounin; the rest of the team was too old to need a teacher along. Still, any Inuzuka honored with three dogs was no one to discount entirely, no matter that his bingo book didn't list her yet. He knew what to expect from her clan, though. He'd killed enough of them._

_The genin ninja, he could only guess at, but they were in the end only genin. The youngest, the boy, didn't seem like much of a fighter. A half-heard bit of conversation between him and the squad leader marked him as a medic. The Leaf's standard training told medics to stay out of fighting; he could be saved for last._

_The other kunoichi carried a sword of her own, though her wakizashi was nowhere near the size of the missing ninja's blade. It was a backup weapon, he judged. It was only a hunch, but he expected a focus on ninjutsu from the woman._

_The final member of the team, the older man, carried several good-sized sealing scrolls. That made him a wild card; until he pulled them out the missing ninja couldn't see what was inside. He didn't like surprises; that made the green-eyed man the second priority target. Luckily enough, he was walking beside the chuunin Inuzuka when the Leaf team and their charge came into view._

_The missing ninja didn't waste time on theatrics. He moved down from the trees silently, striking before the enemy could know he was there. One stroke of his massive blade beheaded the Inuzuka, cut down the man with the sealing scrolls, and sliced one of the dogs in two. Casually, he took one of the bridge-builder's legs with a twitch of the sword as he brought it up for his next blow._

_There was complete silence. The dead and the dying melted into puddles of water, followed moments later by those enemies the missing ninja had not yet struck down. The missing ninja stood still a moment, then shouldered his blade, chuckling to himself._

_"Water replications," he said, amused. He guessed the genin kunoichi was probably the water element user and stronger than he'd guessed if she could make so many; her ability to control them so well over a distance and the mere fact of his detection suggested she was a sensor-type also. He paused for a moment, straining his own senses until he heard the faint sounds of the enemy fleeing through the woods. They were moving away from the water, a wise decision even with a water element user on their own team._

_The missing ninja chuckled again, more loudly. "This just might be fun," he commented, and then he headed into the woods after his prey._

  


* * *

  


Sakura wasn't sore the next morning, after all, even after a couple hours of being thrown around by Hinata before bedtime. Even if she had been, Sakura wouldn't have regretted it. As the practice session wore on, Hinata seemed to have forgotten that she was only helping Sakura for Naruto's sake and started to act genuinely friendly. In their final spar in the evening, Sakura had even managed to pin Hinata; it was possible the other girl had allowed her the victory, Sakura supposed, but even that, while a little embarrassing, was a rare kindness.

Sakura took her position on the rear cart next to Araimi as everyone gathered in the morning. The older girl yawned loudly. "Do you ninja always train so late?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "Not always," she said. "You didn't have to stay up and watch us."

Araimi laughed. "I don't get to see a show like that very often," she said. Araimi couldn't have ever seen any truly talented ninja, Sakura knew, if she thought the display last night was impressive. "I wish I could fight like that," Araimi continued.

"You're pretty graceful," Sakura replied. "You would probably be good at it." Out of the corner, she saw Naruto and Hinata hugging each other goodbye, the Hyuuga heiress gave Sakura a wave that the pink-haired girl cautiously returned.

Araimi shrugged. "Maybe if I'd entered a ninja academy eight years ago," she replied. Then she laughed again. "But I don't think there are any ninja traveling merchants, anyway."

The comment tickled a memory of a history text. "There were in the age of warring clans, I think," Sakura stated. Wasn't there something about that in the legend of how the original Akimichi had joined the Sarutobi Clan's alliance?

"Huh," was all Araimi said to that.

Kakashi finished conferring quietly with Kurenai, and the female jounin gathered her team and they set off down the path Sakura's own team had ascended the previous day. 

Keikan, seated on the lead cart with Sasuke by his side, clapped his hands loudly. "If we make good time," he said, "we'll be at the border crossing by noon. Do you know if we're going to be given a Hidden Hot Springs escort, Hatake-san?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's within their rights," Kakashi said, "but they didn't say one way or the other when they approved our travel plans."

"Do we have to pay them if they do?" Araimi asked.

Keikan shook his head. "We didn't ask for it," he said. "It's their own initiative if they provide one."

"The escort would be to keep an eye on the foreign ninja," Sakura explained, gesturing at her forehead protector, "not to protect us."

A few minutes later, the small caravan was on its way. An hour and a half later, shortly before they would have rotated positions, Naruto called out from the back. "Horse and rider, coming up fast from behind! I think it's the guy from yesterday."

Keikan gestured for the carts to stop. "If Noboru's left his wagon behind, something is seriously wrong," he said.

Kakashi snapped out orders. "Naruto! Sasuke! Defensive positions, with me in the rear. Araimi-san, Keikan-san, stay together in one of the carts. Sakura, guard the clients!"

Sakura jumped down from her position next to Araimi, followed an instant a later by the other girl. She joined her father on the lead cart, Sakura stood next to them, drawing a kunai and turning to watch her teammates. Could there be an ambush, even though Hinata's team had just passed this way? Her hand clenched tighter around her kunai.

The rider - indeed Noboru - came to a halt as he approached the Leaf ninja's defensive perimeter. He had a black eye and was breathing heavily. He raised both hands, demonstrating that he carried no weapons.

"What happened?" Keikan asked loudly, worry in his voice.

"I was attacked, early this morning," Noboru said. "Not bandits. They torched my wagon, cargo and all, and didn't take anything. Figured I owed you a warning after yesterday, Keikan."

"How many?" Kakashi asked brusquely. "Any ninjutsu used?"

"Three men," Noboru answered, nodding respectfully to Kakashi. "I didn't see anything they needed to be a ninja to do." He paused, then added, "I passed another of your teams, after the attack. The lady in charge said to tell you she would sweep the area and that you should contact her."

Kakashi knelt, pressing one hand against the ground. "Summoning Technique," he stated calmly, and a massive, brown-furred dog appeared from a cloud of smoke. 

Sakura started at the casual display of summoning ability. She knew her teacher was a jounin, of course, but it was quite another thing to really see him use advanced ninjutsu. As the smoke cleared, she saw the dog was wearing a Leaf forehead protector like a collar.

"Head back, along the road," Kakashi ordered. "There's a Leaf team, with an Inuzuka along. Find the jounin teacher, assist her, and carry back any message to me." The dog barked once, then raced off down the road.

"Can I… accompany you the rest of the way to the border crossing?" Noboru asked. "I can pay; they didn't take my coin purse."

"For that small a journey," Kakashi said easily, "the warning is payment enough. Assuming you don't object, Keikan-san?"

"Of course not," Keikan answered.

"Let's get moving," Kakashi said. "No point in standing still. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, we're all on foot now. I'm in the rear; Sasuke in front. Naruto, Sakura, take the sides. Weapons ready." Sakura swallowed and adjusted her grip on her already drawn weapon.

An hour later, Kakashi's dog returned carrying a rolled up scroll gingerly in its mouth. "It's taken care of," Kakashi said after reading the message. "They caught all three of them and will be taking them back to the village for interrogation."

"I don't understand," Noboru said. "Why would they just destroy my cargo and not take anything?"

"Hence the interrogation," Kakashi answered. 

Noboru grimaced. "I hope your torturers like giving pain," he snarled.

"They're good at their jobs," Kakashi allowed.

Noboru didn't seem entirely satisfied at this answer, but he settled back into his saddle. "Everyone, keep your guards up, in case they have friends," Kakashi ordered after a moment. "Let's keep moving."

Despite the caution, they reached the border crossing without incident. It proved to be a decently sized town, and Keikan lead them - minus Noboru, who offered his thanks and split off as soon as they reached the town - to a large building on the northern edge of the town. On one side of the entrance were banners bearing the signs of the Leaf and the Fire Country; on the other was a Hot Springs banner.

Kakashi and Keikan went inside to report the incident and arrange for a cargo inspection respectively, when they came out Keikan wore an angry frown, and although it was hard to judge with his face obscured, Kakashi seemed a little irritated also.

"We're going to be spending the night here," Kakashi told his students. "The Hot Springs want us to be escorted through their country, since our route passes close to the hidden village, but the escort hasn't arrived yet."

"They won't even pay for the inn," Keikan complained. "It's unprofessional."

Araimi spoke up, surprising Sakura a little since the other girl had been unusually quiet since Noboru had arrived with his warning. "If we're stuck here anyway, do you want me to go to the market and get fresh provisions, Papa?" she asked softly.

Keikan nodded. "Good idea. You remember the inn we used last time we came this way?" When Araimi nodded, he continued. "Meet us there."

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi said, "go with Araimi-san."

The older girl smiled. "I was just about to ask," she said, a little cheer coming back into her voice.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked her as they went on their way.

"I just don't like Noboru," Araimi said. "My father doesn't like to talk about it, but I think he was in love with my mother way back when, and sometimes when he looks at me…" The girl shuddered once as she trailed off. "I don't like to think about that."

"I'm sorry," Sakura said.

"Not your fault," Araimi said. "Don't worry about it." Despite her words, a dark look passed over her face, and the brief brightening of her mood ended.

"Was there anything else you wanted to know about ninjutsu, Araimi-chan?" Sakura asked, hoping to distract the other girl.

Araimi gave Sakura a wan smile, then leapt at the new topic of conversation. "You said there were three techniques that academy rules allowed last night, didn't you? I only saw those copies."

"The replications," Sakura agreed. "The other techniques allowed are the Replacement Technique and the Transformation Technique. Replacement lets you swap places with an object to avoid an attack, but it's hard to use unless you're a lot faster than your opponent." It felt a little weird to be lecturing on this sort of thing, doubly so to a civilian, but none of it was secret and the fascinated look on Araimi's face proved the distraction was working. "I'm not very good at that one," Sakura admitted.

"And the… Transformation Technique?"

"Lets you change your form to look like someone else," Sakura answered.

They reached the market, and Araimi busied herself with her business there rather than continue the conversation. The market was smaller than any of the Leaf Village's main market squares, or the one in Otafuku Gai, and half the square was empty. "There are more merchants here in the spring and summer," Araimi explained when Sakura asked, "since there's a lot more traffic along this road then."

Araimi made her final purchase - a large bag of apples - and led Sakura out of the market through the empty side of the square. "The inn's down this way," she said, gesturing down the street as she polished off the apple she'd grabbed out of the bag before slinging it over her shoulder with the rest of the provisions.

"I can take some of the bags," Sakura offered.

Araimi shook her head. "Nah," she said. "Papa would say we're paying you for protection, not to carry stuff." She paused for a moment as they reached an intersection. "So… this transformation thing. You could make yourself look like me?"

Sakura nodded.

"Could you show me?" Araimi asked curiously.

Sakura reflexively glanced about to see if anyone was looking - transforming in the middle of the street seemed likely to draw too much attention for comfort - but there were few people about at this time of the afternoon. She studied the other girl for a moment, then locked her hands into a seal. "Transform."

Araimi's eyes widened. "Wow," she said, stopping dead in the street, then circling around the perfect copy of herself. Sakura shifted uncomfortably, and Araimi laughed. "Do I really look like that when I blush, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shrugged. She didn't think she'd ever seen Araimi blush.

"Can you just copy people, or…"

Sakura searched for inspiration for a second, then reformed the seal. In place of Araimi's form she turned into a dark-haired girl, based on what she imagined Hinata's teacher might have looked as a child, wearing a blue dress she remembered admiring in a store window before leaving the Leaf Village.

"Wow," Araimi said again. "That's really neat."

Sakura started to nod, then froze as she heard someone draw near. A large man it took Sakura an instant to recognize as Noboru emerged out of the narrow cross-street. He stopped in front of Araimi, taking a long swig from the dark bottle he held in one hand. His eyes glanced over at Sakura's transformed form without recognition. "You," he said to Araimi as his attention returned to her, enunciating the simple syllable with exaggerated care.

Araimi stiffened, her hand tightening around the bags she carried. "Noboru-san," she said, her voice hard.

"So cold," the merchant said. "Come on, Araimi-chan, your papa and I are old friends, right?"

"You're drunk, Noboru-san," Araimi replied. "You should go rest somewhere before you disgrace yourself."

"Of course I'm drunk," Noboru said, taking another long drink that seemed to drain the bottle. "Just lost my wagon, all my cargo… going to set me back years."

"I know," Araimi said. Sakura took a step closer to the other girl.

Noboru stared at Araimi for a moment. "I've been thinking," he said slowly. "It's awfully suspicious that those men attacked me, just to destroy my cargo, when so many ninja were in the area, working for your father."

"Don't be ridiculous," Araimi said. "Papa would never do such a thing. That's more your style, isn't it?"

"Sir," Sakura began. She glanced about, hoping to find a town guard or at least an audience that might help diffuse things, but the street was empty. 

"None of your business, girl," Noboru said, his eyes not leaving Araimi. He raised his bottle again, seemingly forgetting it was empty. "Don't insult me again, Araimi-chan," he said. "Your father and those kid ninja aren't around to protect you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I'll show you, you arrogant little…" Noboru trailed off, and then he acted with surprising speed, breaking his empty bottle over Araimi's head. Sheer shock froze Sakura's muscles as the other girl let out a pained cry, dropping the bags she carried. Growling, Noboru grabbed her and pulled her into the cross-street.

Moments too late, Sakura recovered and unthinkingly gave chase. It didn't take her long to catch the man, as he stood on the side of the empty street, shoving Araimi against a clay brick wall. One hand was pulling Araimi's head back by her braid, torn out of its coil. "Show you and Keikan too what it means to mess with me," the merchant said.

"Let her go!" Sakura demanded. Her gut began to churn, anger rising inside her, and for once she welcomed it.

Noboru froze, then turned to look at her without releasing Araimi. "Who the hell are you, anyway?" he said.

Only then did Sakura realize that she was still holding the Transformation Technique, and in a puff of smoke she resumed her natural form. "Let her go," she repeated.

Noboru's eyes widened in sudden fear, darting about. "Fucking trap," he moaned. The fear seemed to sober him quickly, as he stood straighter. Sakura took a cautious step closer, and the man reacted, whirling about and pulling Araimi in front of him. She struggled briefly, but stopped as the man placed a short blade at her neck.

"Don't move, kunoichi," Noboru ordered.

Sakura froze. "Don't -"

"Be quiet," Noboru said. His fear seemed to vanish, replaced with desperate determination. "This is what's going to happen, kunoichi. You're going to let me leave. Don't chase me; don't send your teacher to chase me. Any ninja gets even close, and…" He pushed his dagger closer to Araimi's throat, nicking it and drawing blood. Araimi whimpered softly. "Understood, kunoichi?"

One of Sakura's hands twitched over the hilt of a kunai. Could she draw and throw before this man could slit Araimi's throat? Could she risk hitting Araimi? "Don't hurt her," Sakura growled without thinking, almost not recognizing her own voice.

"No one has to get hurt, kunoichi, not if you do what I say," Noboru said. "Once I'm over into Hot Springs Country, out of your jurisdiction, I'll let her go. I'll leave her at the first town on that side of the border for you to pick up, nice and easy. No hard feelings, and Keikan can remember what I could have done to her the next time he thinks of screwing me."

"I'll scream," Araimi said.

Noboru laughed. "Then I'll just kill you, girl. Don't be stupid." He had to be bluffing, right? But Sakura knew Araimi couldn't take that chance.

Sakura struggled to remember how the academy teachers had taught her to handle a client held hostage, but it was hard to think through the rage boiling inside of her. She was pretty sure letting Noboru get away with Araimi was stupid. If he was this angry and desperate, there was no way to be sure he wouldn't kill her, or… other things. What could she do?

Something of her indecision must have shown on her face. Noboru pressed his blade against Araimi's throat again. "The only way she lives is if everyone does what I say, kunoichi. Stop stalling."

Sakura reflexively bared her teeth, but she took a step back. "I'm going," she said, then kept backing away, keeping her arms in front of her. Her thoughts raced, but her usually agile mind came up blank.

Somewhere in her things, back with the rest of her team, was her personal notebook. On the eighteenth page, she'd written a rule to always protect her precious people. Mizuki had taught her how important that was. Araimi was… she'd only known the other girl for days, but Araimi was her friend.

"Last chance, kunoichi," Noboru said.

"Sakura-chan," Araimi said, her voice pleading.

It was hard for Sakura to think. Was she really this pathetic? There had to be something she could do, but… tears filled her eyes. "We won't let him hurt you," she promised the other girl, silently praying the promise wasn't empty, and then she stepped out of the narrow cross-street and out of sight of Noboru.

She almost broke down right there, the shame of her utter failure momentarily beating down the anger. She heard Noboru dragging Araimi away, heard a muffled cry as he hit her, and then something snapped inside of her. She was supposed to be a ninja, a kunoichi of the Leaf. She couldn't let this happen. Her fury reignited. She wasn't going to let this happen. This wasn't the academy any longer. Hinata had said she had gotten better. She had to prove it.

Sakura took a deep breath, and then she raced up the side of the closest building, hours of tree-climbing practice letting her scale the wall without thought. She ran along the rooftops overlooking the cross-street, smoothly jumping to the other side of the street and catching up with Noboru as he dragged Araimi into an alleyway. The girl still struggled, but only a little. Sakura took another breath, and with her gut twisting in rage and fear, she leapt down from the rooftop onto Noboru's back.

There was a moment of struggle that Sakura couldn't remember clearly afterward. Noboru's weapon went flying away, Araimi stumbled into the side of a building, and Sakura was on top of the merchant. That was all that mattered.

She punched Noboru in the face, fury lending her arms strength. "Araimi-chan is my friend," she snarled.

"I surr-"

Sakura punched him again. "You hurt my friend."

"Pl-"

Punch. "No one hurts my friends."

Noboru groaned.

"Understood, merchant?" Sakura bared her teeth again. One of her hands twitched. Someone like this didn't even deserve to live. Her insides were on fire.

"Sakura-chan?" Araimi asked quietly. "I'm okay."

Sakura looked up. Araimi was bleeding freely from a head wound, but stood straight, her eyes clear. Sakura took a deep breath, forcing down some of the hatred raging inside of her. She wasn't acting like herself, she knew, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. But… she knew what she was supposed to do. "Araimi-chan," she said. "Go to the corner, yell for help. Get someone to find Kakashi-sensei, then come back here. Don't leave my sight."

Araimi hastened to obey, and Sakura returned her attention to the man underneath her. She grabbed his throat, and the man let out a quiet frightened, moan. "Are you alone?" she demanded.

"Yes!" Noboru said. "I'm… please don't -"

"Shut up," Sakura said.

Araimi ran back up to Sakura. "I found a town guard," she said, gesturing at a man behind her. "His partner is getting Papa and Hatake-san."

"Is everything under control here, Kunoichi-san?" the guardsman asked. "Do you need any assistance?"

Sakura took a deep breath before responding. "Under control," she said tightly.

The man held up a coil of rope. "If you would," he said.

Sakura nodded and stood, keeping one hand over Noboru's throat, but the merchant didn't resist as the guard bound him. Only then did Sakura step away from the man. She started to breathe heavily as adrenaline fled, and her burning anger subsided.

A few moments later, Kakashi and Keikan arrived, followed by Naruto, Sasuke, and another guard. Kakashi's eye swept the alleyway. He nodded once. "Good work, Sakura-chan," he said as Keikan embraced his daughter, who started sobbing loudly. "Report."

Sakura tried to answer, but as the last of the anger died away, she instead collapsed to her knees. "S-sorry," she said, as what she had said and done began to hit home. Who would have thought, a part of her wondered, that dead last Sakura would be the first member of her team to see combat on a mission?

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, racing to her side.

Sasuke was right beside him, and Sakura stared up at the Uchiha in dull surprise as he offered her a hand up.

She hesitatingly took it. "Th… thank you," she said as she stood, hating herself for the way she shook.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," Kakashi said gently, and when Sakura looked up she saw only compassion in his eye. "The first real battle is always hard; it's okay.

"Let's go back to the inn," he continued. "Sakura, you can give your report after you've had a chance to rest." 

  


* * *

  


_A battle between a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and a genin team, even an experienced one with a skilled chuunin squad leader, should have ended in only one way. In the mind of the formidable missing ninja, there should have been a gap between the opponents that could not be bridged with perseverance, teamwork, and luck, no matter what pretty lies teachers might tell their young students._

_The medic apparently had never bothered to listen to those teachers, at least when it came to his role in battle. The light-haired boy charged the missing ninja with sudden, desperate speed in the opening moments of the fight, landing a single, lucky blow to the missing ninja's right shoulder. The swordsman tossed the boy aside instants later, but seconds after that he realized the severity of his injury, when that whole arm turned stiff and numb, dropping his blade._

_By then it was too late to retreat, and the battle was joined in earnest. Four whirling tornadoes of claw and fang forced the swordsman away from his weapon, the Inuzuka and her dogs transformed into identical, bestial women. The Replacement Technique sufficed to escape the attack, but left the missing ninja even farther from his abandoned blade._

_A storm of hurled kunai flew at the former Mist ninja from empty air. Even with one arm and weaponless, he was capable of slipping between the daggers, even sparing the attention to penetrate the genjutsu the green-eyed man had used to hide his presence. The missing ninja caught one kunai, and sent it back to its owner, but it bounced off the case of the half-open sealing scroll the man held._

_The water replication that had taken the man's place resumed the form of the genin kunoichi who had created it and darted forward, grabbing the swordsman’s massive weapon. The missing ninja kicked at one of the kunai on the ground, sending it flying straight and true into the water replication's forehead. From her position guarding the bridge-builder, the real kunoichi winced._

_The four copies of the Inuzuka charged again, under cover of another hail of thrown kunai, but the missing ninja had time to form a seal sequence with his good hand. The falling water that had been a water replication became one once more, this time a copy of the missing ninja. It picked up the fallen sword and threw it through the air before melting back into a puddle._

_The blade took one of the Inuzuka woman's copies in the back, which turned back into a dog in a puff of smoke. The missing ninja slipped through the other three women, regaining his weapon and kicking the still dog aside._

_"Kabuto!" one of the women snapped, fear evident in her voice._

_The medic, recovered from his brief exchange with the missing ninja, raced toward the dog. The green-eyed man threw five kunai, explosive tags dangling, to force their opponent away. One swing of the massive sword batted the projectiles aside to detonate harmlessly in the forest, but the missing ninja let himself move back regardless. The three women surrounded him, snarling loudly._

_The missing ninja brought his blade back to a ready position, noting the ranged weapon user cloaking himself again and leaving an ordinary replication behind, but giving no sign. "I am Momochi Zabuza," he introduced himself. "Perhaps you've heard the name."_

_"We have," one of the woman growled._

_"Then you know you cannot win," Zabuza stated simply. Green chakra flared around the medic's hands as the boy tended to the injured dog._

_"We'll see," another of the women stated._

_"I doubt it," Zabuza returned, and then he brought his good hand together with the dead one and painstakingly formed a seal around the hilt of his blade. "Mist Concealment Technique." Thick coils of mist filled the battleground, concealing the swordsman from sight and clouding the air with his chakra to shield him from the sensor-type. "If you resist me, you are all dead."_

_"Promises, promises," the Inuzuka woman - or one of her copies - growled._

_Zabuza was silent as he moved past his foes, to where the water element user stood guarding the bridge-builder. With a single kick, he sent the woman flying away from her charge, then he cut down the old man._

_His sword blow only resulted in the sound of falling water as the water replication disrupted, and the missing ninja's eyes widened. Before he could recover, something slammed into his back, and as his mist technique started to fade away, he tossed aside a large, snarling dog, his sword gutting the beast. "Your technique doesn't hide your scent," the Inuzuka said as she cautiously drew near, her last copy at her side. The medic raced from the dog he'd been tending to the new casualty._

_A flare of killing intent was the only warning Zabuza had as the green-eyed man abandoned concealment and attacked, releasing dozens of kunai from his sealing scroll and sending them at Zabuza in a constant stream. The missing ninja blocked some with his sword and dodged others, but one struck home, embedding itself in his numb, useless right arm. His foot struck a puddle of water left from one of the water replications, and he was too slow to dodge when he sensed the chakra flowing through it._

_The water erupted upward, forming the image of water element using kunoichi, inside Zabuza's guard. "It's over," the water replication stated as she struck. Zabuza dodged backward, but her wakizashi still sliced a bloody trail across his stomach before his own sword blow decapitated her._

_Zabuza stayed on his feet, even blocking the next batch of thrown kunai without moving. "This grows annoying," he snarled. The older male genin's hands twitched, and the kunai turned in midair, flying at Zabuza's back. He leaned aside, one swing of his sword severing the chakra-conductive wires._

_If the target wasn't even here, there was no point in fighting at a disadvantage any longer. "Haku!" the missing ninja ordered. There was a shimmering, and a boy dressed as a Mist hunter ninja appeared next to the swordsman, supporting his weight._

_"I didn't sense anything!" the older kunoichi exclaimed, confirming she was the sensor._

_"You're no hunter ninja, if you're aiding him," the ranged weapons user commented, hand resting over another sealing scroll._

_"No," the boy agreed, forming a rapid sequence of seals. "Hyouton: Blinding Ice Storm Technique."_

_The air filled with countless, tiny blades of ice, scoring bloody red lines along the skin of the Leaf ninja and reflecting the noon sun into a sea of light, and when it was over both missing ninja were gone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Because claiming this kind of thing amuses me, I want to believe that this is the first ever Naruto fanfic in which Sakura's father meets Zabuza. I've certainly never seen one before!
> 
> 2) Meaningless bonus points go out to everyone who caught the source of inspiration for Keikan and Araimi. And, yes, in my head the implications about Araimi's mother are true, but that heritage isn't going to play any role in this story.
> 
> 3) As always, my thanks go out to everyone who commented on the drafts of this chapter at The Fanfiction Forum, Space Battles, and the FFML.
> 
> Draft Started: April 12, 2012  
> Draft Finished: April 22, 2012  
> Draft Released: April 25, 2012  
> Final Released: May 05, 2012


	6. Encounters

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case... oh, forget it.

* * *

When Naruto awoke, he was alone in the room he was sharing with Sasuke. Dim light filtered in through the narrow, high window, but not enough for it to be past dawn. He sat up in the not particularly comfortable bed, rubbing wearily at his eyes. It had not been a restful night, not after what had happened yesterday. The thought of that shook the last of the sleep from his mind, and he rose and silently dressed.

After he finished tying his forehead protector around his head, he paused and touched the disheveled, thin sheets on top of Sasuke's empty cot. The other boy's body heat still lingered; he'd only woken, or at least left, shortly before Naruto rose. Naruto noted that Sasuke had taken his things. Since that seemed a wise decision, Naruto followed suit, packing away the dirty clothing he'd worn yesterday before heading out in search of his friend.

The hallway outside was dark and silent, and after locking the door to his room behind him, Naruto lingered a moment outside the next door. Araimi had insisted on sharing a room with Sakura, and he could hear both girls' quiet breathing. Relieved of his almost baseless worry, Naruto continued, not pausing at the sound of Keikan's snoring from the third room.

He found Sasuke in the inn's common room, poking at a bowl of some sort of hot cereal. It wasn't a typical food in the Fire Country, but when a tired-looking young man emerged from the kitchen and plopped a bowl down in front of him with an explanation that it was paid for, Naruto found that it was filling, and sweetened enough to make it pleasant to eat. 

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked Sasuke without introduction. The jounin had announced, after his private debriefing of Sakura, that he would take watch for the entire night. His voice had been firm enough that Naruto had bit down his instinctive protest.

"Outside," Sasuke said. He stirred his breakfast, not bringing the spoon up to his mouth.

"You should eat," Naruto said, then took his own advice.

"I know, idiot," Sasuke said, but he only took a couple bites before he returned to stirring.

Naruto didn't need to ask to know the other boy's thoughts. They were much the same as his own. "We should have been there," he said quietly. "So Sakura-chan wasn't alone."

Sasuke didn't nod, but he didn't protest either. That was as good as agreeing with him.

Naruto's grip tightened on his spoon. He couldn't leave it at that, not for this. "I promised her father she'd be safe," he said. "Help me."

Sasuke blinked, and it took him a moment to answer. "You really are stupid, idiot," he said, and he actually sounded a little angry. Naruto didn't say anything, and after a moment, Sasuke grunted. "I remember the bell test," he said finally, grudgingly.

Ninja who don't take care of their comrades are worse than trash. Naruto wasn't about to forget that lesson either. "Sorry," he apologized. Then he took another bite of breakfast.

Sasuke mirrored the motion. "At least it was just a drunk civilian," he said. "Even dead last -"

"Don't call her that," Naruto hissed, and this time it was his voice that showed anger. "A drunk civilian's still more than we've fought on this mission."

Sasuke's knuckles were white around his spoon, but after a moment he grunted again. "Even she," he said, almost as though there had been no interruption, "wasn't in any danger." 

"It was a drunk civilian this time," Naruto said. "Next time?"

Before Sasuke could say anything, the front door of the inn and opened, and Kakashi walked inside. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," their teacher said in greeting, seating himself at the table they shared. "I'm glad you're up. I think it's best we have a little talk before Sakura-chan and the clients join us."

Naruto set his spoon down in his half-eaten breakfast. "You don't need to tell us," he said. "She shouldn't have been alone."

Kakashi sighed. "Did you think I was about to lecture you about that, Naruto-kun?" he asked.

"Yes," Naruto answered.

"If anyone's at fault for that," Kakashi said, "it would be me. I could have sent one of you with her and Araimi-chan."

"Why didn't you?" Naruto asked.

"Because there was no threat I anticipated that she couldn't handle," Kakashi said.

"You knew?" Sasuke asked suddenly. Naruto followed the train of thought, then clenched his fists. Kakashi could be a bit of a bastard, but he didn't think he'd deliberately send Sakura alone if he'd known Noboru would attack.

"Of course not," Kakashi said. "I was aware of the possibility, but considered it remote." He sighed again. "It's difficult, isn't it?" he asked. "That she was in danger."

"Yes," Naruto answered. Sasuke just let out a hard noise.

Kakashi nodded easily. "Who is Sakura-chan?" he asked.

Naruto blinked. "Our teammate."

"And?" Kakashi prompted.

There was silence for a moment. "My friend," Naruto said, but he didn't think that was what Kakashi was looking for.

Kakashi's mask wrinkled into a smile for just an instant. "Sasuke-kun?" he asked.

Sasuke opened his mouth, then shut it. Naruto was grateful for that, as he didn't think he'd like whatever first came to Sasuke's mind to describe their teammate. The other boy sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "A kunoichi," he said finally.

"Indeed," Kakashi said. "She's a ninja of the Leaf. Do you understand what that means?"

"She's going to be in danger again," Naruto said after a moment. He hesitated, "But she still shouldn't have to be alone."

"She shouldn't have to be," Kakashi said, "but she will be. And so will you, and so will Sasuke-kun."

"But -" Naruto began to protest.

"As your teacher," Kakashi said, "it's not my job to keep you out of danger. It's my job to make sure you can handle it.

"That's part of what it really means to take care of your comrades." Kakashi smiled through his mask again. "Now, don't worry too much, boys," he said as he stood. "That said, I'm not going to let anyone on my team get hurt."

Kakashi left and vanished up the stairs, heading for their rooms. Naruto had managed to finish his bowl when he returned, Sakura and the clients trailing him. Keikan went to go prepare the wagons for the day's travel, Kakashi following him, while Sakura and Araimi made to join the boys.

Naruto forced a smile. "Good morning, Sakura-chan," he said.

The pink-haired girl returned the smile, though faintly. "Good morning, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly.

Naruto remembered his manners and wished Araimi a good morning also. Sasuke just stood and left, leaving his half-finished bowl behind. Naruto wanted to hit him when he watched Sakura's eyes follow the Uchiha's retreating back.

Araimi crossed her arms. "Asshole," she commented.

Sakura flushed. "Araimi-chan!" she protested.

"Bastard," Naruto agreed. Araimi giggled, and Sakura's face turned a brighter shade of red. Naruto gave her a crooked smile. "It's true, isn't it?" he asked. He'd heard that response from Sasuke too many times, when he told him to knock off the "dead last."

Sakura shook her head, but her faint smile returned. Moments later, the man from the kitchen brought out bowls for Araimi and her, and the girls set to eating.

Naruto watched them quietly. He wanted to ask Sakura if she was okay, but if they weren't talking about what had happened yesterday, he wasn't comfortable raising the subject himself. Eventually, he awkwardly excused himself, and he didn't see either girl again until they gathered together to leave the inn.

When they reached the border crossing, their escort from the Hidden Hot Springs was waiting for them, and proved to be a short man with spiky brown hair. The forehead protector with the three lines of his village was tied around his waist like a belt. "Sorry I'm late," he said, without providing any explanation for the delay. "I am Tora."

Naruto wasn't able to stop himself from snickering as he imagined the foreign ninja with a red bow over his right ear like the cat they'd recovered so many times. Sasuke rolled his eyes, Sakura gave a small smile, and even though he didn't move a muscle, Kakashi somehow managed to seem amused. Tora blinked. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Kakashi said easily, stepping forward with a folder of papers in his hand. "I think our client would appreciate if we got going without further delay."

"You're a wise man, Hatake-san," Keikan stated.

Tora took the folder, flipped through it, then handed it back to Kakashi. "Looks fine, I guess," he said. "Let's go, then." Naruto almost gaped at the man. He hoped the Leaf's border guards were more thorough when inspecting visiting foreign ninja.

The day's travel passed without incident, Tora generally trailing a few steps behind Kakashi, although he occasionally wandered over to walk beside one of the genin for a while. Their ordinary position rotation kept Naruto away from Sakura, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to say to her anyway.

A few hours after noon, Keikan stopped the wagons at a fork in the road. "I was planning on pushing on," he said, "but after yesterday I think we could use some relaxation. There's a small hot springs resort, not too far down that way, that's run by an old business partner of mine. Since it's the off-season, it should be cheap enough."

"That sounds nice," Araimi said.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's your decision," he told the client. "Tora-san?"

"What?" the Hot Springs ninja asked.

Kakashi was silent for a moment, then explained, "It's a deviation from our declared travel plan."

"I guess," Tora said. He shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it."

With that endorsement, Keikan led them down the left fork, and about an hour later they reached the resort. When they were settling into their rooms - only two this time - Kakashi vanished briefly, then returned. "Since we're stopping early," he told his students, "we can do some training. Follow me."

He lead them to a small, private walled hot spring, and without ceremony walked out onto the water. "It's similar to the tree-climbing exercise," Kakashi said. "You just have to keep up a constant flow of chakra."

Naruto frowned. It didn't sound too difficult. Gingerly, he stepped out onto the surface of the hot spring... and with a loud splash fell into the steaming water. Sasuke snorted, but he was there to give Naruto a hand up. "Thanks," Naruto muttered.

"Well," Kakashi said, "I think you have the idea, probably." He pulled out another of those stupid Gutsy Shinobi books - how many of them were there, anyway? "I'm going to go keep an eye on Keikan-san and Araimi-san. You three practice this until dinner-time." The steam whirled around him, and he was gone.

"Lazy bastard," Naruto complained.

Sasuke shrugged, then slipped out of his shoes and tested the water with one foot. It slipped underneath, and he pulled his foot out. "It's harder than it looks."

"Tell me about it," Naruto said, trying to wring out his clothes a little. "We're all going to get wet," he said, before taking off his shirt and tossing it aside. If Sakura wasn't there, he'd have considered stripping to his underwear.

The kunoichi, meanwhile, had been staring at the hot water all the while, but made no move to test her ability. "I'll... be right back," she said, backing out of the spring.

Sasuke blinked, but didn't say anything, testing the water again. His foot might have held up for an instant before dropping under the surface.

"What's Sakura-chan doing?" Naruto wondered aloud as he followed Sasuke's cautious example, rather than replicating his first experiment.

"Who cares?" was all Sasuke said in response, which Naruto didn't dignify with a response.

When he heard Sakura return a few minutes later, he turned to look at her, and the answer to his question was obvious. She'd done her long hair up into a rough bun and changed into a red one-piece swimsuit. She blushed, and Naruto realized he was staring. "Ah, sorry, Sakura-chan," he said, glancing away. "I was just wondering how you knew to bring a swimsuit."

"Oh," Sakura said. "I just... well, we knew we were going to Hot Springs Country, so I thought we might..."

"Visit some hot springs," Naruto said, laughing. "Smart, Sakura-chan. I wish I'd thought of that."

"Stop flirting with her," Sasuke said irritably. "We're here to train."

Sakura's eyes widened. "S... Sasuke-kun, we aren't... I mean..."

Naruto hit Sasuke in the back, sending him stumbling onto the water. He stayed on top for a second before dropping under the water. "Don't say stupid things, bastard," he said. Sasuke just pulled him into the hot spring in response, and the next several minutes were unproductive.

When they were done, Naruto was glad to see that Sakura seemed less embarrassed. "I guess we do need to train," he said. "Our lazy teacher probably hired that Tora guy to watch us and tattle if we goof off."

"Should be worried about him goofing off," Sasuke said. Naruto had to agree with that statement.

"Do... do you have any tips for this, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, still not having touched the water. Naruto shared what little he'd learned so far, with a couple interjections from Sasuke, and then the three genin set to work.

It took Naruto a while to get into it, though, distracted by Sasuke's comment that he'd been flirting with Sakura. He didn't think he'd been, but that thought, and her in a swimsuit... Naruto hadn't really noticed in the academy, as she'd clearly wanted nothing to do with him, but... he had to admit, Sakura was pretty cute.

Naruto shook his head to clear it, before a dunk in the hot water could do it for him. That was not an appropriate line of thought to be having about a teammate. He centered himself, tried not to look too much at Sakura, and devoted his full attention to mastering this new skill. 

Kakashi came to get them a few hours later. By that point, all three of them had managed to stay on top of the water for at least two minutes at a stretch. As they followed their teacher to get changed for dinner, Naruto wasn't able to keep a smile off of his face. He put one arm around Sasuke's back. "So," he said, "what do you think about today's training, dead last?" he asked the other boy.

Sasuke just glared at him.

Sakura, who had lasted a few seconds longer than Sasuke on their last set of attempts, stopped in her tracks. "Naruto-kun, please... don't."

"But," Naruto protested, then sighed, releasing Sasuke. "All right," he said. "You owe Sakura-chan one, bastard. You're lucky she's so nice." 

Keikan and Araimi joined them for dinner, although Tora was nowhere to be seen. Keikan's business partner, who also ate with them, proved to be an old woman who traded a number of impenetrable - at least to Naruto - stories about successful and failed trades. Araimi whispered explanations to Sakura throughout the meal, but Naruto honestly didn't care enough to listen to them.

Afterward, they all went to the large public baths in the back of the resort to relax before going to bed. Sakura and Araimi vanished into the women's side. There were only a few other customers in the men's side. When they spotted the ninja's Leaf forehead protectors, which Kakashi had ordered his students to keep on, the civilians migrated to the far side of the bath from the newcomers.

Kakashi's eye passed over the fleeing men dismissively, then settled into the bath, his back to the dividing wall separating them from the women. Naruto had to admit he made an odd sight, with his forehead protector slung across his missing eye and still wearing his cloth mask. As Naruto entered the bath himself, though, he wasn't able to keep his eyes off of what had really attracted his attention to his teacher: the pale, jagged scar that crossed his chest.

"It looks worse than it was, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said casually, apparently not offended.

Naruto looked away anyway. "Sorry," he said.

"Is that..." Sasuke started, then he cut off, not willing to continue the question.

"No, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, "this one's from much later." What was that about? Kakashi leaned back, staring up into the sky. "It was probably not far from here, actually."

Since Kakashi seemed willing to discuss it, Naruto wasn't able to stop himself from asking, "How did you get it?"

"Hmm," Kakashi said, "I suppose I got it cutting a lightning bolt in half."

Keikan, a short distance away from the ninja, snorted. "You must be kidding, Hatake-san."

Kakashi glanced at him. "Well, that's what they told me I did afterward," he said. "I couldn't say myself." He laughed. "My own memory of the event is a little blurry." One hand traced the scar briefly. "You should have seen the other guy, though."

From behind them, there was a sudden, loud splash, and then feminine laughter. Kakashi's eye winked. "Sounds like Sakura-chan and Araimi-chan are having fun," he said, his voice much lighter.

"I'm glad," Keikan said. "It should help Araimi put yesterday behind her." He frowned. "Hatake-san, is it... appropriate, for me to give your girl a bonus or something?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I'd have to tell her to turn it down," he replied. "Her actions were well within the duties you're paying us for."

"I suppose," Keikan said. "Still..."

"I think," Naruto said, "that if you just thanked her, it would mean a lot to her." Both adults looked at Naruto for a moment. "What?" he asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto-kun is right, I imagine," he said.

"It seems insufficient, but if that is all I can do," Keikan said, then he shrugged. 

Naruto leaned back against the edge of the bath, his eyes briefly glancing up to the starry sky above. The merchant's last words echoed in his mind. "All I can do." What had he done to help Sakura after her experience the past day? Not much, he thought. Sakura had clearly not wanted to talk about it, and Naruto had unconsciously leapt at the excuse. Was that taking care of your comrades?

Loud, almost choking laughter came over the dividing wall. Naruto thought it might be Sakura's, but he realized he wasn't sure. He didn't think he'd ever heard Sakura laugh like that back at home.

That thought sent his mind down other dark paths, and he fell into a silence that - even though he realized it matched Sasuke's broody best - he couldn't bring himself to break.

* * *

There were only a couple of other guests in the woman's side of the baths, a pair of girls who looked about Araimi's age. Araimi unhesitatingly led Sakura over to them, and Sakura tried to hide her instinctive nervousness as they drew near. She never went to the public baths in the Leaf Village if she could help it; there was far too much opportunity for someone like Ino or Ami to pull cruel pranks. Most likely, any adults who noticed would have looked the other way for anything short of real injury. Sakura knew that from long experience.

The other two girls' eyes went to Sakura's forehead protector, obscured by her bangs. They stiffened briefly, but they didn't make any more extreme indications of wariness. "Good evening," the taller of the two said. "You are?"

Araimi nodded. "I'm Araimi," she said. "This is Sakura-chan," she told the girls as she gestured at Sakura.

"Eimi," the girl who had spoken earlier introduced herself. "My friend is Kasumi."

The other girl, a dark-skinned redhead, grinned widely. "Sakura-chan, huh?" she asked, stressing the honorific.

Sakura hoped her blush might be attributed to the heat of the bath. "Pleased to meet you, Eimi-san, Kasumi-san," she said, reflexively falling back on the polite formulation.

Eimi bowed slightly in the water. "Likewise, Sakura-san," she said. There was a slightly awkward silence for a moment, then she commented, "You have an... interesting hair color." Her hand unthinkingly brushed her own short, black hair. 

Sakura shrank back, almost reflexively, but there was no mockery in the other girl's tone. "I suppose," she said quietly.

Kasumi chuckled. "She supposes," she said. "Are you a ninja also?" she asked Araimi.

Araimi shrugged. "Sakura-chan's team is guarding my father and me," she said, "on our way to Lightning Country."

"Ah," Eimi said. "I see."

It felt weird, how calmly the two girls were taking Sakura's presence. Sakura had to remind herself that they would never have heard of her, had no reason to see her as anything other than an ordinary kunoichi. Was this what it felt like to be normal?

"Does you hair run in the family?" Eimi asked Sakura suddenly. Her pale cheeks reddened as Sakura started in surprise and Kasumi laughed. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san," she said. "My mother is a hairdresser, and I work with her sometimes. I've just never run into natural pink hair."

"My... my mother had the same color hair," Sakura said quietly.

"Had?" Araimi asked, her voice almost as soft. Sakura really didn't want to talk about that, but she nodded. "That's something we have in common, then."

Sakura searched for a change of subject. "You said your mother is a hairdresser?" she asked Eimi. "Does she work here?" She could probably use a haircut, Sakura thought to herself.

"What?" Eimi asked. "No."

Kasumi laughed again. "We're on vacation," she explained.

"Oh," Sakura said. "I thought it was the off-season."

"This place is still open, isn't it?" Kasumi said.

"It's cheaper now," Eimi commented. She studied Sakura's hair for a moment. "You'd like a trim?" she asked hesitatingly.

"I didn't mean," Sakura started.

"It... it would hardly be any trouble to do once we're done bathing," Eimi said. "If you don't mind an amateur." Kasumi snickered.

Sakura's father usually cut her hair himself. "I... then, thank you."

"If you're offering," Araimi interjected, gesturing at her own hair.

"Sure," Eimi said after a moment.

They bathed in silence for while, then Kasumi spoke suddenly. "Seems a shame to be wasting this big, empty bath just sitting around," she said, then she sank into the water. She kicked off against the wall of the bath, then shot off toward the other side of the bath like it was a swimming pool.

Araimi grinned widely and headed off in pursuit, kicking up a storm of water. Sakura raised her hand to shield her eyes.

When she lowered it, Eimi commented, "I've never seen a Leaf forehead protector before."

Sakura realized she had brushed her bangs away from the sigil. "I guess you would mainly see Hot Springs ninja here," she said.

"Yes," Eimi agreed.

Kasumi and Araimi had reached the opposite side of the bath, near the dividing wall separating them from the men's side. Somehow, the conclusion of their race had seamlessly transformed into a half-wrestling match, half-water fight. Beside Sakura, Eimi sighed, her face buried in the palm of her left hand. Sakura had to smile at that.

There was a loud squawk as Araimi gained the upper hand and forced Kasumi under the water. The short girl sputtered as she came back up, making Araimi laugh. "Oh, now it's on," Kasumi said, cracking her knuckles.

Sakura tensed, then forced herself to relax. The dark-skinned girl wasn't Noboru.

"Kasumi!" Eimi snapped loudly. "Behave!"

Kasumi glanced back at them. "What?" Eimi just gestured at Sakura. "Oh," Kasumi said, and then she backed away from Araimi.

The sudden awkwardness was a little disconcerting, but still... it wasn't anything like back home. Any ninja would have inspired the same. That, Sakura thought, was easy enough to bear. "Thank you," she told Eimi.

The other girl nodded, then turned turned to the stairs leading out of the bath. "Would you like that trim now?"

Sakura nodded, and followed Eimi out. After drying herself some and wrapping herself in a towel, Sakura seated herself on the edge of the bath, where she could keep an eye on Araimi and Kasumi. Fortunately, nothing untoward was going on.

Eimi knelt down behind Sakura, pulling a pair of scissors out of a blue bag she'd gotten from her things. "Always prepared, huh, Eimi?" Kasumi asked from the bath.

Eimi ignored the question. "How much off?" she asked Sakura.

"Umm... maybe an inch," Sakura said.

"Here?" Eimi asked, pressing her hand against Sakura's back to demonstrate. Sakura nodded, and Eimi set to work. An unfamiliar girl with a sharp blade at Sakura's back made her instincts scream, but Sakura forced herself to calmness.

A few minutes later, by which time Kasumi and Araimi had left the bath and were drying themselves, Eimi murmured, "Just about done. I don't have a mirror, but..."

"I'm sure it's fine," Sakura said.

Kasumi started to laugh, almost choking. "Kasumi!" Eimi said.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Kasumi said. "But... it's just so hilarious."

"Kasumi -"

"Come on, how can you keep a straight face?" Kasumi said. "You're... you're giving a Leaf ninja a haircut!"

Sakura stiffened, reflexively throwing herself away from Eimi and toward Araimi before she could even examine the reason for her action. The moment's thought as she got to her feet gave her no reason to regret her response. "Araimi, behind me!" Sakura hissed. The other girl obeyed, her eyes widened.

Kasumi doubled over, still laughing. "Didn't... have a... clue -"

Eimi sighed as she stood and walked over to her friend's side. She left the scissors on the ground beside her bag. "This is why you didn't get the promotion, Kasumi," she said, burying her face in her palm once more.

"What's going on?" Araimi asked Sakura quietly.

Kasumi straightened, clearly having heard the question. "We might as well introduce ourselves for real now, Eimi," she said. She bowed formally, as though she weren't nude. "Tenrai Kasumi," she stated, "genin of the Hidden Cloud."

Eimi sighed, but she added. "Ogushi Eimi, chuunin of the Hidden Cloud."

Sakura struggled to keep her fear under control as she backed toward the exit, gesturing behind her for Araimi to run for it. She took a deep breath, then shouted, "Kakashi-sensei!" A tiny part of her was humiliated at crying for help, but it was easy to force down. This was the right thing to do.

It was actually Naruto that responded first, suddenly appearing atop the dividing wall. "Sakura-chan!" he shouted. "What's wrong?" Then his eyes widened. 

Sakura was still wearing a towel, but the other girls were nude. Araimi almost dove the final feet into the changing room. Eimi turned bright red, a color that had to match Sakura's, awkwardly trying to cover herself.

Kasumi, on the other hand, just laughed. "You know," she said conversationally, "I always wanted to do this."

Then she let out a girlish shriek and shouted, "Pervert!"

Several chaotic minutes later, everyone was dressed and gathered in a private dining room, though no one seated themselves. Kakashi stood blocking the door, his arms crossed and his eye locked on the Cloud ninja, standing on the far side of the room keeping the table between them. Eimi and Kasumi had been joined by a pale-haired, spectacled boy who stood slightly behind his apparent teammates.

"I'm Kakashi," the jounin finally said. He didn't introduce any of his team, or Keikan and Araimi. His firm orders to keep quiet, a few moments before the meeting, were enough to stop any of them from volunteering. 

Eimi started to step forward, then seemed to think better of the idea. She wore a white Cloud armored jacket over a black shirt and trousers. "I am Ogushi Eimi," she introduced herself again. "My teammates are Tenrai Kasumi and Nii Hikaru. I apologize for the incident." She paused, then her eyes swept the Leaf ninja. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Naruto look away, his face reddening, but it was Sakura who Eimi's eyes rested on. "Your student can confirm that we made no hostile moves to her or your client."

"Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

She forced herself to keep standing straight under the weight of everyone's attention. "O-other than hiding their identities, yes," she said. 

Kasumi laughed. "If you couldn't tell we were kunoichi, it's your own damn fault, Sakura-chan." She mockingly stressed the familiar suffix again. Rather disconcertingly, she wore a red dress not too different from Sakura's own. Alone of her team, she didn't wear her forehead protector properly, instead using it to tie her hair back into a long ponytail. She was also the only one of her team to carry a weapon openly, a large hammer on her back. "Seriously -"

Eimi raised a hand, and the dark-skinned girl cut off. "I admit that we did so," the chuunin said calmly, "because we were not told to expect Leaf ninja in the area."

"You're in command?" Kakashi asked.

"Until our teacher rejoins us," Eimi said. She hesitated, then added, "He could be here as soon as tonight."

"So I'd best not start anything, hmm?" Kakashi asked lightly. Eimi grimaced, and Sakura couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for the Cloud kunoichi. Kakashi was a jounin, after all, and Sakura doubted she'd handle being interrogated by a Cloud jounin nearly as well.

Kakashi didn't wait for an answer, and his next question was serious. "What are your intentions toward us?"

"We have none," Eimi said. "What are your intentions?" Her voice almost cracked on the question. Her male teammate adjusted his glasses.

Kakashi made a thoughtful sound. "I suppose -" he began.

That was when the door burst open, almost hitting the jounin in the back. There was a puff of smoke, and the chair he'd left behind with the Replacement Technique went flying over the table.

Everyone moved at once. Kasumi leapt onto the table, smashing the chair out of the air with her hammer. In a blur of motion, Sasuke intercepted her, a spinning kick forcing the redhead back. In the back, Eimi's hands flicked through seals. The boy, Hikaru, intercepted a thrown kunai aimed at her with a blade of his own; it was only when she was reaching for a second that Sakura realized that she'd thrown the first weapon herself. The familiar burning in her gut started to kindle.

"Stand down!" Kakashi roared, a quick, controlled flare of killing intent backing up the order.

He stood not two feet from where he'd vanished. Kneeling in front of him, arm twisted behind his back and Kakashi's kunai at his throat, was a half-dressed man Sakura took a moment to recognize as Tora. His Hot Springs forehead protector dangled from his other hand.

"Stand down," Eimi echoed weakly, her hands disengaging from the seal they'd stopped on a second later.

Kasumi took a step back, then jumped down from the table, but she didn't lower her hammer. "Who the hell are you?" she asked Tora.

Sasuke also backed away, but didn't leave the table. Sakura looked around, and found Naruto standing in a corner over Keikan and Araimi.

"I'm the - the Leaf's escort," Tora finally stammered out. "I heard there was an incident with... ah... Cloud... umm..."

"Next time," Kakashi said, moving his kunai a fraction of an inch away from the Hot Springs ninja's throat, "perhaps try knocking first." He paused, then added as though it had just occurred to him, "And, perhaps, maybe try not seducing the maids when you're on a mission." Sakura thought about Tora's state of undress, and felt her cheeks heat.

Kasumi chuckled. "Unless that is the mission?" she asked, slipping her hammer back onto her back.

Kakashi's mask wrinkled. "I think we're done here," he said. "Unless Tora-kun would like us to provide formal reports for him to take to his superiors?"

"Ah... no, I think... I don't need..." Tora trailed off.

Eimi nodded once. "Thank you for your understanding, Kakashi-san," she said, and then she led her team out of the dining room. 

Kasumi paused by the exit, half-turning and grinning at Naruto. "If you liked the free preview, five hundred ryo will get you another show. Double it and I'll throw in Eimi also."

For once speechless, Naruto just gaped at the dark-skinned girl as Eimi, clearly mortified and turning an unhealthy shade of red, pulled Kasumi through the door.

Kakashi shut the door behind them with his free hand.

"Could I... maybe... stand up?" Tora asked.

"In a moment," Kakashi said. "Keikan-san, I apologize for this incident."

The merchant shook his head. "I don't see anything for you to apologize for, Hatake-san. I have no complaints on that front."

"I'm glad to hear it," Kakashi said. "Naruto?"

"Wha- oh," Naruto said. His face smoothed as he bowed to Araimi. "Araimi-san," he said, "I apologize for..." He visibly struggled for some polite way to finish the statement.

"It's... nothing, Naruto-san," Araimi said. "You were just trying to protect us."

Naruto glanced at Sakura. "Umm..."

Sakura self-consciously covered herself, then forced herself to drop her arms. She hadn't really been naked then, much less now. "It's my own fault, Naruto-kun," she said. It had been her cry for help, after all.

"You did exactly as you should, Sakura-chan," Kakashi interjected. Casually, his kunai lightly prodded Tora's throat, and the other man gulped loudly. "I'm going to have a brief chat with Tora-kun here. Take Araimi-san and Keikan-san back to our rooms. Double watches tonight. Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, take the first watch. Sasuke-kun and I will take the second."

"Yes, sir," the three genin answered reflexively.

When they reached the rooms, Keikan paused outside the door. "Could I speak with Sakura-kun alone a moment?" he asked.

Sakura nervously followed him through the door, not able to stop herself from wondering if she'd done something wrong. "Keikan-san?" she asked when the merchant didn't speak at first.

The man bowed deeply to her, making her take a surprised step back. "I just wanted to thank you for protecting my daughter yesterday and just now." He straightened.

Sakura swallowed not sure how to respond. "It is what we're here for," she finally said. "Any of us would have done the same."

"I'm sure," Keikan said, "but it was you who did so and that matters to me." He bowed again, though not as deeply. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," was all Sakura could think of to say in response, and she let herself out. 

Not too long afterward, Naruto and Sakura were standing outside the pair of rooms where the rest of their party slept. The hot springs resort was quiet, but there were still occasional noises from someone walking the halls. The one time someone had come down their hallway, it proved to be one of the resort staff doing a routine check. By the time Naruto broke the awkward silence that hung between them, Sakura had stopped drawing her kunai at every sound.

"Do... do you want to talk about what happened?" Naruto said. "Yesterday, I mean."

Sakura swallowed. "No." What was there to say? She'd - barely - managed to do her job. Her fists tightened. Noboru should never have been able to threaten Araimi. And today, with the Cloud kunoichi... if they'd truly been hostile, what would she have been able to do? She didn't think Keikan would have thanked her for what would have resulted.

"I just want you to know... I'm your friend," Naruto said. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here. That's all."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Sakura said, and she forced herself to smile, though she knew it looked weak.

Naruto smiled back, and the two were silent for several minutes. Then, Naruto spoke again. "Man, Kiba and everyone are never going to believe me."

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"You know, about..." Naruto trailed off, scratching at the back of his head.

Sakura realized what he meant, and looked away from him, hoping to hide her own sudden embarrassment. "Oh."

"It's like something out of a manga, you know?" Naruto said. "The only part that was missing was the part where I get beat up." He paused. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"I wouldn't," Sakura said. Even if she had been angry at Naruto, even if he had done something to deserve anger, what good would hurting one of the few people who seemed to like her do? 

"You're right," she added after a moment. She'd read similar stories enough times to be familiar with it. "This isn't a manga, though."

Naruto laughed softly. "It can happen in real life too," he said. "Apparently one of the only times the Legendary Sannin's Jiraiya-sama feared death was when he peeped on Tsunade-hime."

Sakura had to choke off her shocked laughter to avoid waking someone. It was just so absurd to think about real heroes like those two acting out a scene like that. Her hand over her mouth, she unwillingly made an embarrassed sound.

"I reacted the same way when... when I first heard the story." Sakura could easily guess that he'd been about to say who had told him story, but chose not to think about that. Naruto forced a chuckle before continuing. "Promise not to tell Tsunade-hime about today? That might make it harder to get her to take me as her apprentice."

Sakura found herself smiling. "I promise," she said, not that she could imagine ever talking to someone like the legendary Tsunade about something like that. "You want to be her apprentice?"

"I told everyone my dream when we became teammates, didn't I?" Naruto asked. "I'm going to become a great medical ninja, greater than even Tsunade-hime." He grinned suddenly. "It couldn't hurt to learn from her along the way."

"It's a good dream," Sakura said, but then her mind turned to what she'd said herself on that day. She didn't have a dream, not like Naruto did. In years past she'd always thought that she wanted to become a great kunoichi, a hero that no one would hate, but even before she'd learned what she was she'd never been able to believe it would happen outside of idle fantasies. Now she knew that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would never be a hero of the Leaf Village.

Naruto didn't seem to notice the dark path her thoughts had taken. "It's a lot of work is what it is," he said. "If I'd known before I started how much Shizune-neechan wants me to learn before she'll teach me even a single first aid technique..." He laughed. "And her tests are as hard as Iruka-sensei's."

The scarred teacher's written tests had been, by far, the most challenging back in the academy. The scores Sakura had received on them were some of the only parts of her academy results that she could take pride in. "You passed those," Sakura reminded Naruto.

"Shizune-neechan has two grades: perfect and failure," Naruto replied. "'There's no partial credit in the hospital,' she says." He grinned again, fiercely. "But I'm not going to give up."

Sakura had given up on her dream. But... she wanted to be more like Naruto, she realized. And... she was glad that she'd been able to protect Araimi as well as she had. She wanted to be able to do things like that, to live up to her rule to protect the people who were precious to her, to not just be someone who had to be protected. Her mother had once been dead last, her father had said. Maybe Haruno Sakura might never be a hero like Haruno Amaya had been, but she might still become a great kunoichi.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said, not realizing she'd said her thanks out loud until Naruto replied.

"For what?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing," she said. A sudden impulse made her add, "If you need help studying for those tests..." She trailed off, wondering if the offer was presumptuous.

"A study partner would probably be a big help," Naruto said. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one, and when Sakura went to bed after Kakashi and Sasuke relieved them, it was with a lighter heart than she'd had in some time.

* * *

Despite, or perhaps because of, the caution Kakashi enforced, the next days of travel passed peacefully. Tora gave the Leaf jounin a wide berth, and had started to wear a pair of metal claws on his hands, but that was the only hint remaining that anything untoward had occurred at the hot springs resort. The journey further up into the mountains would have been easy, even pleasant, were it not for the weather.

The only saving grace was that it wasn't cold enough yet for snow. They'd last seen the sun as it rose when they left the resort. Well before noon that day, the skies were covered with gray clouds that hadn't lifted since. A bitterly cold wind swept down from the peaks of Frost Country, looming on the northern horizon. Constant drizzling kept them from drying even slightly in between short, intense downpours. Only a ninjutsu of Kakashi's allowed a fire when they camped in the evenings.

Sakura no longer had any doubts why these roads were poorly traveled during these months. When they had to stop for a third time this afternoon to free one of the wagons from the mud, she almost felt like she understood Noboru. Even Tora pitched in, as eager as everyone else to reach the way station where Keikan planned to stop for the evening.

Their success was rewarded only by a burst of heavy rain. Sakura drew her heavy cloak close to her as she trudged atop the mud alongside Araimi's cart. It didn't help much, but it was better than nothing. The thick brown cloth allegedly was waterproofed, but whatever resistance its maker had invested in it was long since overwhelmed. She hoped the cloth covering the bed of the wagons, or at least the boxes with the cigars inside were better protected. She wasn't sure, but she imagined soaked cigars wouldn't sell nearly as well.

The rain dwindled back into a drizzle after a few minutes. Shortly afterward, Araimi drove her wagon over a large, shallow puddle, and Sakura was close enough that the splash washed over her feet. She momentarily lost control of the variation on the water-walking technique she was using and sank an inch or so into the mud. Sakura wasn't able to stop from sighing as she pulled her feet out and started the flow of chakra again, only slightly slowing in her progress.

"Change positions," Kakashi ordered, jumping down off of Keikan's cart. Naruto took his place, while Sakura replaced Sasuke riding beside Araimi. "Sorry about splashing you there, Sakura-chan," the brown-haired girl said as Sakura seated herself.

"Don't worry about it," Sakura said. It wasn't like she'd been dry to start with, after all. She yawned, weariness settling into her bones now that she was no longer moving. She was low on chakra, too, but it wouldn't be long before her reserves started to refill.

"I won't tell if you nap," Araimi said.

Sakura just gestured at Kakashi, who had taken Sakura's old spot next to their cart. The jounin chuckled loudly enough that the girls could hear him.

That said, Sakura did rest as much as she could, though she didn't dare shut her eyes, even for an instant, for fear of unintentionally slipping into sleep. She fantasized about a warm bath for a while. Had it really only been a couple days ago that they'd been relaxing at a hot springs resort?

Sakura was shaken from her musings by a loud howl in the distance, further up the road. It didn't sound like a dog. "Wolves?" she asked. At least they wouldn't attack a large group of humans, though. Right?

"No," Araimi said, something odd in her voice. "That's no wolf. Kakashi-san -"

"I know," Kakashi interrupted her, then launched into a quick set of orders. "Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, off the carts. All three of you, weapons ready."

"Yes, sir," Sakura replied unthinkingly as she slipped back onto the ground, drawing a kunai.

Kakashi was already gone, moving up to the front of the group and calling Tora to him with a sharp, unmistakable gesture.

The Hot Springs ninja complied. "You recognized -" he began.

"I fought in the war," Kakashi said shortly.

"Oh." Tora paused, and as if to fill the silence the howl returned. "We're not that far from the village," he said. "He's probably just letting one out for training." Tora didn't sound quite convinced of his own words.

"I was under the impression that we killed that contract's last holder," Kakashi said.

"A summoning contract?" Naruto, who had fallen back to guard the other side of Araimi's wagon, asked softly.

"It must be," Sakura said, glancing about. The sparse woods that surrounded the road suddenly seemed far more ominous. 

"Ah," Tora began nervously, then he shrugged. "Well, it's not my fault, I guess. There was an apprentice." The... whatever it was, howled again. Was it getting closer? "Like I said," Tora continued, "he's probably just training with one of them."

Howls filled the air, coming from all directions. "Or more than one, I guess?" Tora finished weakly.

"They're hunting," Kakashi said grimly. "Keikan-san, we need to find a defensible position -"

The next howl came from close behind, and Sakura turned to face it. Standing on all fours on top of a boulder by the edge of the road was a creature that was almost an oversized dog. Its hide was leathery, though, and its head horned and armored with protruding bone. Green fires burned where its eyes should have been, and Sakura imagined she saw wisps of steam rising where stray rain drops crossed them.

"Tora-kun," Kakashi stated. "It's from your village."

The Hot Springs ninja hesitated, but when Kakashi made an annoyed sound, he stepped forward. While he did that, Kakashi spoke orders in a soft voice. "Keikan-san, Araimi-san, off the wagons. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. Defensive formation around them. Be ready."

As they obeyed, Tora stood in front of the creature. He raised his hands, and Sakura wondered if he even remembered he had metal claws strapped to them. "Easy, boy. Or girl. I... we're all friends here, right?"

For just a moment, everything was still. Then the creature roared loudly. More distant howls answered, and it leapt at Tora. There was a burst of smoke, and the dog-like monster mauled a piece of deadwood. Tora reappeared on top of one of the wagons. Killing intent, or something much like it, poured out of the beast, and with a loud snarl it turned toward the genin.

Sakura didn't even see Kakashi move. One moment he stood slightly behind the defensive formation, the next he was past the creature, leaving behind a kunai embedded in a fiery eye socket. Sakura had a bare moment to notice the sparking explosive tag dangling from the hilt. Then there was a crack like thunder, a spray of blood, and the beast was no more. Furious howls filled the air.

"Back on the wagons," Kakashi ordered. "We need to reach that way station as soon as possible. Pull the wagons alongside each other, so I can touch them both at once."

While Keikan and Araimi obeyed, Naruto asked, "What the hell was that?" Sakura realized the blond boy was shaking slightly.

"Demon hound," Kakashi answered. "A pup." The creature Kakashi had killed had easily been the size of the dogs Sakura had seen the Inuzuka using. How big did they get? "They're smart, vicious. The bite is venomous, and the older ones can use ninjutsu. And they hunt in packs.

"Don't even move, Tora-kun." The last was tossed off suddenly, without even a pause to foreshadow the change of subject.

The Hot Springs ninja froze. "I swear, I have no idea why they're hunting us," he said. He raised his hands again. "It attacked me first, remember?"

"We're ready, Kakashi-san," Keikan said. The muddy road was barely wide enough for the two wagons to travel side by side.

Kakashi grunted and moved to stand between the two wagons, turning his back to Tora. Sasuke silently stepped to stand between him and their teacher. Kakashi ignored both of them and reached out, touching the sides of the wagons. As one, they rose out of the mud, standing atop it like it was dry and hard. Was he using the mud-walking technique through the wagons? The amount of control it would take to channel chakra like that, without damaging the wheels... it was unimaginable.

"Aw man," Naruto groaned. "Why didn't you do that six hours ago, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Shut up, idiot," Sasuke growled.

"Enough," Kakashi said. "Let's move." How long could the jounin keep up the wagons out of the mud? Sakura imagined not for long, so she hurried to follow as Keikan and Araimi started the wagons moving, Kakashi easily jogging between them, keeping his hand on their sides. Naruto took the lead, while Sasuke and Tora trailed behind. Kakashi gestured, and at his command Sakura moved up to join Naruto.

The wagons were moving fast, and it was a little tough for Sakura to keep pace. Even with her unnaturally quick recovery times, her chakra reserves were still low, and she tired quickly. Her legs burned, and she almost stumbled, but she forced herself to keep moving.

That was when the attack came. Monsters came out of the gathering twilight, and even the brightly glowing green flame of the demon hounds' eyes gave only an instant's warning. One leapt at her, fanged jaws snapping. She dodged instinctively, a thrust from a hastily drawn kunai forcing the beast away.

Sakura moved to stand back to back with Naruto, while the demon hound started to circle, killing intent leaking out it as it snarled. She used the moment of respite to survey the battlefield. Sasuke and Tora were fighting another of the monsters. Keikan and Araimi were huddled down in their wagons, two smoking demon hound corpses lying in the mud nearby. Kakashi stood not far away, staring into the gloom. He'd raised his forehead protector and... was that an eye under there? Before Sakura could take a second look, her teacher vanished in a blur of motion.

Sakura didn't have time to consider the matter, as the demon hound circling her and Naruto attacked again. This time, Naruto met it, scoring a line along its side with his own kunai. The demon hound recoiled, springing back on legs that suddenly seemed jointed backward. Sakura swallowed as she watched the creature's flesh writhe, the skin knitting itself back together. That was a little close for comfort.

"The next time it comes at me," Naruto whispered. "I'm going to take a fall. Keep it off me for just a moment and I'll snare it."

Thunder rolled in the distance, the rain picking up. The demon hound came at them low, snapping at Naruto's legs. The blonde boy dodged away, then slipped in the mud at Sakura's feet. The monster leapt at its fallen foe. Sakura was there to meet it, kunai in hand. Her blade plunged deep into its chest.

The demon hound exploded into dark, rancid-smelling smoke that made Sakura's eyes water. There wasn't any time to wonder if this was replication, replacement, or even ninjutsu at all. The demon hound was darting past her, still after the prone Naruto. There was no time for thought at all.

She tackled it, bowling the hound over. Her weapon glanced off its bony, armored head, the force jarring the kunai from her grip. Green, fiery eyes glared at her for a fraction of instant, and then somehow the monster was on top of her. Claws raked her gut, and fangs sought her throat.

Fear and gathering fury lent Sakura strength, letting her force the head away with her bare hands. Its mouth sank into her shoulder instead, ripping and tearing. Light-headed, Sakura clawed at the hound's leathery underbelly with her nails, she thought for a moment she was drawing blood.

"Chakra Chain Snare!" Naruto roared, and an ethereal chain wrapped around one leg pulled the monster away.

Sakura resisted the insane instinct to leap forward and press an attack on the hound. Her head swam with pain and frustrated rage, burning radiating out from her navel. The beast was frozen, straining against the short chain but unable to move.

"Kill it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted. It took effort for Sakura to recognize and obey the order

Her good arm groped in her well-organized pouch, finding an explosive tag Naruto had made. She reached out, pressing the tag against the demon hound's throat and pouring as much chakra as she could manage into it. "Away," she croaked out, and took her own advice, pushing herself backward as best she could.

Naruto released the monster, jumping away. Before the hound could attack, the explosive tag detonated. The edge of the blast caught Sakura, sending her skidding in the mud. She landed on her wounded shoulder, and lost herself in a haze of pain.

Then Naruto was standing over her. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan? Hold on!" Sakura forced herself to take a deep breath and calm her raging insides while Naruto rifled through his medical kit.

Killing intent spiked. "Naruto-kun -" Sakura started.

Kakashi was standing over the two of them, parrying a massive scythe with a kunai. Facing him was a large, silver-haired man in a dark cloak. A bolt of lightning lit the skies, and the Hot Springs forehead protector the man wore around his neck caught the light, revealing the line gouged across the sigil.

"Leave the children out of this," Kakashi warned.

The man smiled. "But kids scream so nicely. Your brats had some good ones, by the way, Tora-chan."

The fear and panic in Tora's voice was obvious. "H-hidan-taichou? You -"

"Not your commander anymore, Tora-chan," the silver-haired man interrupted. "As of this morning, there's no more Hidden Village of Hot Springs." He smiled mockingly. "I guess."

* * *

_"Are you done, Takeru-san?" the light-haired medic asked the other man as he emerged from the dark and silent home of Tazuna the bridge-builder._

_The green-eyed genin nodded once. "We just need to arm the outer traps as we leave," he said, "but the inside is done. The next time any chakra other than mine is used in there, the whole house will blow."_

_"Tazuna-san might be a little displeased if that happens," the younger man said with a laugh._

_"Then he should have thought about that before putting genin up against one of the Seven Swordsmen."_

_"You think we should abandon the mission?"_

_"I wish," Takeru replied as the two started to make their way through the woods to their well-hidden camp, "but Hana-taichou is right. They'd assume we were going for backup, and we'd have to fight them to get out of the country anyway."_

_"If we're lucky, Zabuza doesn't have a medic to fix his arm. That would give us the advantage when we find their hideout."_

_"We can't count on luck, Kabuto-kun."_

_"I know."_

_The older man forced a laugh. "I'll be glad to have you on my side in the exams with that kind of move, though."_

_Kabuto's laugh was less forced. "Do you have any idea how lucky I was to make that work? There's good reasons chakra scalpels aren't considered useful in combat. My father would scold me for even thinking of trying that."_

_"It worked," Takeru replied._

_"True enough." The pair walked in silence for a while. "I didn't recognize the seals your traps used."_

_"I've had... reasons to study the art as best I can," Takeru answered. "I can make a few non-standard seals."_

_"Custom seals? That's impressive."_

_"Hardly. The designs aren't original," Takeru said. Kabuto raised a curious eyebrow, but his teammate didn't elaborate._

_A few minutes later, they reached their camp, and ignored the sullen civilian family clustered in the center as they gave their report. "Good work," the chuunin commander told her subordinates. "If Tsubaki gives the all-clear when she gets back, we can really get to work tomorrow."_

_"Did they have any trouble, Hana-taichou?" Kabuto asked, gesturing at the pair of injured dogs resting at the woman's feet._

_Hana shook her head. "I won't feel comfortable until we get this one to a hospital, though," she said, lightly stroking one of her companion's heads._

_They heard their last teammate approach almost a full minute before she walking into the camp, trailed by a third dog. "I swept the bridge and the town," she announced. "No sign of any ninja. I think the enemy must have gone to ground."_

_"Are you sure, Tsubaki-chan?" Takeru asked. "You didn't catch that fake hunter ninja before."_

_The genin kunoichi grimaced. "I can't guarantee it, but I got a good taste of that Haku's chakra when they fled, and today I wasn't being distracted by a monster like Zabuza."_

_"That's as good as we can expect," Hana said._

_"Does that mean I can restart work on the bridge?" Tazuna ventured._

_Hana shook her head. "Not unless you want to end up dead. Momochi Zabuza is a master assassin. We can't defend you out in the open like that."_

_"But you just said -" Tazuna silenced himself after a glare from Takeru._

_Seated next to his mother, the bridge-builder's young grandson curled up into a ball. "We're all going to die."_

_Takeru's glare turned to him, and Kabuto sighed._

_"All right, then," Hana said, clapping her hands once and drawing her subordinates' attention. "Good work today, everyone. We'll take single watches tonight so we'll be well rested." She grinned. "Because tomorrow we hunt."_

* * *

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked the silver-haired man - Hidan. Uchiha Sasuke ignored his teacher, inching closer to the confrontation and fighting down familiar fears that he didn't - couldn't - acknowledge. Hidan's scythe still hung over Naruto and dead last, his teammates, even though Kakashi's blade blocked it. He had to... what could he do? He'd felt the edge of the man's killing intent, and even that mere taste of its inhuman power reminded him of that night. Sasuke's limbs trembled, and not from the exhaustion of the Great Fireball Technique he'd used to kill the demon hound moments ago.

Hidan's smile widened as he answered the Leaf jounin's question. "I mean that I got tired of that piece of shit village wasting space. So I killed them all."

"A-all?" Tora's voice cracked.

"All I could find," Hidan said cheerfully. "I had time to play some at the academy. Do you want to know how your brats died?"

Tora screamed in loss and rage, and then he he was flying at Hidan. Kakashi stepped out of the way, and the two Hot Springs ninja collided. Tora somehow wound up on top, and still screaming he plunged his metal claws into Hidan again and again. That didn't stop the other man from laughing and tossing Tora aside before standing, weapon still in hand.

Sasuke forced himself forward to join his team, even as Hidan, still laughing, engaged Tora, lazily swiping the brown-haired man with his scythe. Tora screamed again as he caught the blade between his metal claws, a howl that sounded no more human than that of the demon hounds. With another laugh, Hidan broke through Tora's block, sending him stumbling back a few feet. The tip of the scythe ripped Tora's shirt, but Sasuke couldn't see if it drew blood.

Kakashi glanced back at Sasuke, and he couldn't stop himself from stiffening, frozen, as the crimson Sharingan stared at him. "All of you," he said seriously. "Your priority is to guard Keikan-san and Araimi-san. This fight is out of your league.

"Keikan-san, we may have to abandon the wagons." Kakashi didn't wait for the merchant's subdued acknowledgment, instead moving to join the battle.

Sasuke reached where Naruto knelt over Sakura, tending her wounded shoulder. "How is she?" he demanded, glad his voice was steady.

"I think the bone is broken," Naruto said shakily. "I gave her a generic anti-venom since Kakashi-sensei said the bite was venomous, but -"

"Let me up," Sakura said quietly. "I'll heal, since..." She trailed off. Her regenerative bloodline limit. How fast did it really work?

Naruto shook his head. "Sakura-chan, it's not healed yet."

"But -"

"Know your limits," Sasuke interjected.

Sakura quieted instantly. Naruto grunted, then said, "Help me with these bandages, Sasuke. We need to keep the wound clean."

Sasuke obeyed, but he glanced at the wagons to find Keikan and Araimi still in the lead one. "We need to get into defensive positions." Where was Hidan? His eyes swept the battlefield, barely able to pick out two forms clashing repeatedly, too quickly to follow. Kakashi and Hidan? He couldn't imagine Tora moving like that. 

As the rain started to die down a little, Naruto and Sasuke moved Sakura into the wagon next to the clients. While Naruto climbed up next to her and whispered to Araimi instructions to make sure Sakura didn't move her wounded arm, Sasuke scanned the area again. They couldn't afford to be caught off guard.

"Boo," the silver-haired man said from his position on the back of the wagon.

Sasuke started to whirl about, only to freeze as killing intent flooded around and through him. Hidan's scythe was at Sakura's neck. Keikan and Araimi were toppled over, still. He couldn't tell if the civilians were breathing.

"I said to leave them out of it," Kakashi growled as he appeared a dozen paces away, but he didn't move any close. Tora stepped forward out of the twilight gloom behind him, only to be stopped by Kakashi's outstretched hand.

"That's hardly any fucking fun at all," Hidan complained. He pressed down on Sakura's injured shoulder. She screamed once.

"Chakra Chain -"

"No," Hidan stated, casually catching Naruto in the stomach with the butt of his scythe. The blond doubled over, stumbling backward and falling off of the wagon, next to Sasuke. Why couldn't Sasuke move? He wanted to, but his trembling arms wouldn't draw a weapon, his shaky legs wouldn't step toward the man. Hidan smiled. "We have a volunteer for first casualty," he observed, stepping over Sakura to stand on the edge of the wagon. He started to raise his weapon.

Sakura snarled, a sound Sasuke couldn't comprehend as coming from the pink-haired girl's throat. She grabbed onto the scythe with both hands, and started to pull. Hidan just laughed, but then, impossibly, the weapon moved, almost slipping from his grasp.

"The he-" Hidan began, and then there was a blur of motion. The scythe went flying. By the the time it landed, Kakashi had Hidan pinned against the trunk of a tree, two kunai nailing his hands to the bark and a third across his throat.

"You're far too dangerous to let live, Hidan," the Leaf jounin proclaimed. "Farewell." His hand jerked. Blood sprayed, and Hidan's monstrous killing intent vanished.

Feeling like a puppet with his strings cut, Sasuke almost collapsed, but instead he managed to help Naruto stand before checking on the others. Sakura was sitting up, but her eyes were closed and her face twisted into a grimace as she clutched at her shoulder. Keikan and Araimi were breathing after all. Hidan must have planned to use them as hostages if necessary. Somehow, they'd all survived. No thanks to himself. Damn it.

Kakashi took a step back as Hidan's corpse slumped over, held up by the daggers pinning its hands, and with a shaking hand lowered his forehead protector over his Sharingan eye. He started to turn away.

"He's not dead!" Tora shouted, charging Hidan. He raised one his hands, metal claws aimed straight at the other man's eyes. "Die, monst -"

With a sickening ripping sound, Hidan pulled his right hand free of the kunai and raised his arm to push the attack aside. The claws sank into the tree trunk seemingly without resistance. There was a loud crack, and the top of the tree started to lean aside. Hidan laughed. "Blood Lance." A stream of something - was it blood? - flowed out of his hand, forming a short spear that plunged into Tora's chest. The brown-haired man staggered, a gurgling sound coming from his mouth.

Laughing madly, Hidan freed his other arm and raised it. His scythe flew into his outstretched arm. With a twitch, he used it to block a kunai Kakashi threw, sending the weapon to bounce harmlessly off the tree. Already weakened by Tora's attack, it gave way at the slight push, the top falling to the ground with a thunderous crash. "I think you'll be more useful as a sacrifice than you ever were as a ninja, Tora-chan," Hidan commented.

"Monster," the Hot Spring ninja managed to say, spitting blood in his face.

Hidan didn't respond, cutting the injured man down with one strike from his scythe. He knelt over the corpse, pressing one hand to his bloody chest. "Summoning Technique."

The demon hound that emerged from the cloud of smoke was easily twice the size of the one Sasuke had fought earlier. Snarling, it interposed itself between a charging Kakashi and its master, forcing the Leaf jounin to back off.

"I should be less surprised than I am," Kakashi said.

Hidan stood, rubbing at his slit throat. "A little thing like a blade wasn't going to penetrate my defense."

"You can control your own blood," Kakashi observed. "Harden it, use it as a layer of armor under the skin."

"You're pretty good, to figure it out that quick, Sharingan Kakashi." Hidan grinned. "I've never been a fucking strategist, but I've still got the weakness of your little trick, I think. It burns through chakra fast, don't it? That's why you did such a sloppy job of finishing me off, and why you sealed that fancy eye away as soon as you could. Right?"

Kakashi didn't answer, and Hidan laughed again. "Seems like it's safe for me to cut loose now, huh?" he observed. "Chidaruma," Hidan said to his summon. "Go play with the brats for me while I have fun with their teacher." The dog-like creature growled once, then abandoned its guard position.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Kakashi and Hidan jumped at each other, met in midair, and recoiled in a blur of motion. Sasuke couldn't follow their motion further, and there was no time to search them out. Green, fiery eyes blazing, the massive demon hound advanced on the wagons.

"Sakura-chan -" Naruto began, from his position bent over Keikan and Araimi.

"I can fight," the girl said.

Against his will, Sasuke's mouth twisted into a grimace. He wasn't, he couldn't, just stand here and let dead last, already injured fight. "Protect the clients," he ordered. His limbs finally answered his commands, and he reached for his shuriken. "Naruto, with me."

"I can't," Naruto said, gesturing at the clients. "Their breathing sounds wrong. I don't know what kind of technique this guy used on them, but I'm the closest thing we've got to a medic who could figure it out."

"Fine then," Sasuke said. "I'll go by -"

Sakura jumped down from the wagon. Blood stained the bandages covering her shoulder, and that arm hung limply at her side. Her other hand held a kunai. "I'm... I won't be useless, Sasuke-kun."

It wasn't worth arguing over. Sasuke grunted, then he filled the air with steel, and behind that cover the two ninja met the demon hound's advance.

Some of the thrown weapons struck home, but the hound's muscles flexed, and the shuriken fell out of rapidly closing wounds. As expected, then. "Hang back," Sasuke ordered Sakura without looking at the girl. "Use explosives if you have them."

Her answer was happily practical, an kunai bearing an explosive tag flying at the monster. Chidaruma moved, dodging the weapon as well as any ninja could. The detonation sent waves of mud flying through the air, and for just an instant Sasuke lost sight of the beast.

Sasuke felt more than heard the monster's approach and he reflexively moved to intercept. His kunai took the demon hound in the shoulder. The massive creature didn't stop, pressing forward and bowling Sasuke over even as his weapon ripped open its side.

"Sasuke-kun!" 

The Uchiha didn't have time to listen to Sakura's panicked. He kicked upward with both legs, knocking Chidaruma up and and off of him. Before the monster could recover, he brought his hand back up, shoving his kunai through the green fire that burned where its eye should have been.

His only reward was an explosion of dark smoke that made his eyes sting. He coughed uncontrollably as he struggled to rise, the wet mud making hard to regain his feet.

"Get away!" Sakura yelled, answered by a loud snarl from their enemy. There was a surge of powerful killing intent.

Sasuke finally found his footing and raced out of the slowly dispersing smoke to see Sakura on the ground, the demon hound looming over her. Somehow, the girl was fending off the animal, holding its snapping head away from her with one hand.

Sasuke jumped on the abomination's back, trying to thrust his kunai through the back of its neck. Before he could strike home, the beast rolled, throwing him off, but at least the motion also took it off of Sakura. His teammate collapsed back to the ground, and Sasuke had to look away from the bloody mess she'd made of her shoulder. There wasn't time to worry about, though, and he stood and turned to face his enemy.

The demon hound was slow to regain its feet, and Sasuke dropped his kunai, his now-free hands rapidly moving through seals. He breathed in deeply, and when he exhaled his breath was flame. "Katon: Great Fireball Technique!"

The rolling ball of flame flew at the monster, but then it stopped suddenly. Sasuke couldn't see through the firestorm, but he did see green fire lapping around the edges of his technique, pushing his own fire back. Sasuke called up as much chakra as he could, feeding his fireball with a thin stream of flame, only managing to hold it steady.

After what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than a dozen seconds, the pressure lessened, but by that point Sasuke's own technique was exhausted. The last flickers of fire died away, and Sasuke found himself matching gazes with Chidaruma. Somehow, the creature managed to look annoyed, though its snarling expression hadn't changed.

The demon hound blurred, and then there were three of it, then nine. Replications, but in the dim twilight there were no shadows to check. Sasuke grabbed his dropped kunai and took a step back to stand over his fallen teammate as the replications slowly started to circle the pair of ninja.

He took advantage of the momentary pause to assess the battlefield. Sakura was in no condition to fight, lying still and breathing shallowly while she clutched her shoulder. Tora's corpse lay abandoned in the mud. Sasuke could feel Kakashi's duel with Hidan, chakra and killing intent flaring all around, but his eyes only caught occasional flashes of movement. Naruto was still tending their unconscious clients. There was no one to help.

One of the demon hounds darted in at Sasuke. He swiped at it with his kunai, and the beast retreated. It was toying with him, he realized. Unable to tell which was the real one, defense would be hopeless if they all came at once. Another hound started to spiral in, and Sasuke shifted his stance. His foot jostled Sakura, and the girl moaned in pain.

Sasuke stiffened. Damn it. Why the hell had the dead last tried to fight? She was just getting in the way, and now they were both going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it unless something changed. Why wasn't he good enough? Was this as far as he could come? Would some animal end his quest? The demon hounds circled slowly, and Sasuke's eyes darted frantically between them. If only he could see -

And then he could see. It was like a switch had been flipped. The gloomy, lightning-lit twilight seemed brighter. He could see the muscles rippling as one of the hounds moved; he could see the same muscles staying still in the others. He could catch Kakashi and Hidan, meeting in midair. He saw his teacher's blade score a wound across Hidan's chest, then saw short spears of blood thrust out from the gash, forcing the two apart. He could even see the dark-haired Cloud kunoichi hidden in the underbrush.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but before he could decide what he was trying to do, the Cloud team struck. In a deafening boom and a flash of light that should have been blinding, lightning stuck in between Kakashi and Hidan. Sasuke's head turned, finding an unfamiliar man in a Cloud uniform standing atop a small tree overlooking the battle, one brightly glowing arm raised. Lightning came down again hitting the man's hand and then forking, blasting at Hidan.

The silver-haired man somehow caught the lightning bolt with his scythe, sending it forking again to blow a crater in the mud, but he was still forced back. Without missing a beat, Kakashi - his Sharingan revealed again - pressed his attack, and Hidan retreated.

The dark-haired girl in the underbrush started to race through hand seals, but Sasuke caught each motion as though she was demonstrating for his benefit. "Raiton: Dance of the Fireflies," he read her lips. Tiny bolts of electricity streamed from her hands, floating through the air, moving to surround Sasuke, Sakura, and the demon hounds.

The tiny, flickering bolts seemed to move randomly, but as they struck each of the fake demon hounds, the replications exploded into that black smoke, leaving only the real one behind. The Cloud girl's technique struck it too, but the tiny shocks seemed to only irritate it, making it spin around to face her.

Sasuke tensed, but before he could move the girl's teammate struck, a red blur jumping down from somewhere and delivering a solid hammer blow to the beast's back. There was a sickening crack, and the demon hound fell. The girl jumped back off the creature, grinning widely at Sasuke.

He didn't waste time with words, racing forward to the twitching body and ramming his kunai through the back of its skull. It spasmed once more, and then finally was still.

The hammer girl - Kasumi, Sasuke thought he remembered - raised her weapon to rest on her shoulder. "Lucky for you guys that Testu-sensei didn't trust that Tora loser to keep an eye on you."

The girl - Eimi - emerged from hiding, drawing close to Sakura. Sasuke belatedly moved to stand between her and his fallen teammate, but the tall girl didn't come closer. "Hikaru-kun!" she said, "Sakura-san is down."

The third team member! Sasuke's eyes darted about, and found him standing on the cart next to Naruto. They didn't seem to be fighting, and Sasuke's went back to the two kunoichi in front of him. His gaze met Eimi's and she suddenly froze.

"Those eyes," Kasumi said. The redhead raised her weapon again.

"Sharingan," breathed the other girl.

Sasuke blinked, raising a shaking hand to his face as though it would somehow let him see his own eyes. Had he really -

He was shaken from his thoughts as three powerful killing intents flooded the battlefield, warring with each other. Sasuke and the two Cloud kunoichi turned to see Kakashi, Hidan, and a third man, the one who had called the lightning, standing in a rough triangle.

"It's been a while, Kakashi," the Cloud jounin said. His arm was no longer glowing, and Sasuke could see that it was covered in metal, seals etched all over it.

"A few years, Tetsu." Kakashi paused. "Interesting arm."

"I think you almost did me a favor, shattering the original," Tetsu replied lightly, "but we can call that even after tonight. This, I assume, is the infamous Hidan."

Hidan laughed. "This is starting to get interesting." He raised his scythe into a guard position.

"I never thought the next time we met we'd be fighting on the same side, Kakashi," Testu said.

"You don't have time to chat," Hidan interrupted, jumping at the Cloud ninja and bringing his scythe down. The other man blocked it with his metal arm, then stabbed at Hidan with a kunai held in his other hand, lightning sparking around the blade. Hidan jumped back, landing almost where he'd stood moments ago.

The three jounin stood, seemingly frozen in that triangle for a second that felt an eternity, and then in a simultaneous rush of motion the battle was joined once more.

* * *

_The hidden campsite was quiet, the only person stirring the young medic currently standing watch. He finished checking on the injured dogs, then his hands moved slowly through a sequence of seals. Insubstantial feathers fell over his sleeping comrades and clients, and he waited several minutes to ensure the genjutsu had placed them all into a deep sleep._

_Then he knelt down, pulling out a small scroll and placing it on the ground. He unrolled it, revealing only blank paper. He formed a seal with one hand, placing the other on the paper, and arcane seals became visible. The young man concentrated for a moment, and blood seeped out of his hand, filling a few gaps in the pattern of strange characters. "Summoning Technique," he breathed, and there was a puff of smoke._

_When the smoke dispersed, it revealed a small, white snake. The animal raised its head, yellow eyes meeting the medic's unwavering gaze. "You're late. Report, Kabuto-kun."_

_"It's been a busy few days," Kabuto replied. "We engaged the enemy, and this is the first chance I've had."_

_"And?"_

_Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "I can confirm the recruitment opportunity we discussed in my previous report. Momochi Zabuza has a follower, a young boy from the Yuki Clan. I witnessed the use of ice-element techniques with my own eyes, and I hope to have the chance to observe his full power shortly."_

_The snake laughed. "Very well. Retrieve him."_

_"That may be impossible without breaking my cover."_

_"Kill the witnesses, then."_

_Kabuto didn't glance at his sleeping teammates. "The Leaf may find that suspicious."_

_"You're getting soft, Kabuto-kun." The snake laughed again._

_"Also," the medic replied, "I need them if I'm to participate in the Exams." His hand went to his glasses once again._

_"What do you want, Kabuto-kun?"_

_"Kimimaro-kun," Kabuto replied. "And... Tayuya-chan was from Water Country, I believe. If you can spare her, I could use her also."_

_The snake's body shifted. "Kimimaro is the one I can't spare," it said. "His remaining uses are numbered."_

_"What better use," Kabuto said, "than to acquire a body that may surpass his?"_

_There was silence for almost a minute. "Don't fail me, Kabuto-kun."_

_Kabuto bowed his head. "I won't, Orochimaru-sama."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Random Ramblings
> 
> 1) This chapter took much longer than it should have, and is much longer than it was supposed to be, while covering less ground. Oh well.
> 
> 2) One of the reasons that it took so long is that the fight choreography and I just couldn't get along this time. I usually don't have too much trouble, but pretty much every skirmish in this chapter put up an enormous fight. Hopefully the outcome of that struggle is reasonably entertaining.
> 
> 3) Apparently, a forthcoming Naruto movie is going to actually give Sakura quasi-canonical parents and close that incredibly useful gaping hole in the background. For the obvious reasons, I have no intention on integrating whatever may be revealed in that movie into this story.
> 
> 4) As always, my thanks to everyone who commented on the draft of this chapter on The Fanfiction Forum and Space Battles, without whom it would be far poorer.
> 
> Draft Started: May 13, 2012  
> Draft Finished: July 02, 2012  
> Draft Released: July 08, 2012  
> Final Released: July 16, 2012


	7. Enemies

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case... oh, forget it.

* * *

When Naruto tried to remember the rest of the battle against the rogue ninja Hidan, he could only remember it in fragments and glimpses. He remembered the cold rain, the lightning-lit darkness of the rapidly descending night, and most of all the powerful, warring killing intent that made it hard to breathe. He remembered the triumph of Kakashi's apparent victory turning to ash as Hidan cut down the Hot Springs ninja Tora and sent the massive demon hound summoned from his blood after the three genin.

 

_Naruto grimaced as he bent over the still forms of Keikan and Araimi. What had Hidan done to them? There was no sign of physical injury, and they were breathing at least, but that breath was weak and halting. What sort of technique had he used?_

_He looked up at a loud snarl from the advancing demon hound. His eyes met the green flame of the monster's gaze, and he resisted the urge to shiver. Beside him, Sakura tensed, her good hand reaching for a weapon. "Sakura-chan -" he began. Even with her regenerative ability, it couldn't be good for her to strain herself, not with her shoulder already so badly wounded._

_"I can fight," she answered._

_Before Naruto could respond, Sasuke did. "Protect the clients. Naruto, with me."_

_Naruto half-straightened before he followed Sakura's worried glance at Araimi. He didn't need to wait for her to speak. She wasn't a medic, not even to the limited extent he was. "I can't," Naruto said, hating it. "Their breathing sounds wrong. I don't know what kind of technique this guy used on them, but I'm the closest thing we've got to a medic who could figure it out." And Sakura was in no condition to fight to protect Keikan and Araimi if they were threatened._

_"Fine then." Sasuke was irritated, but not angry. He understood the reasons. "I'll go by -"_

_Naruto reached out, but was too late to grab Sakura's good arm and stop her from jumping down to the muddy ground. She drew a kunai. "I'm... I won't be useless, Sasuke-kun."_

_Naruto swallowed his instinctive protest. He had to trust she knew what she was doing. Without another word, Sasuke hurled shuriken to cover his advance, and Sakura followed him into battle. Naruto bent back over the clients - his patients - and tried to remember everything Shizune had taught him about sleeping techniques._

 

"You know don't have to stay up all night, pervert." The hammer-wielding girl's - Kasumi's - words shook Naruto from his musings as he kept watch over the still, sleeping forms of his teammates. She'd taken over the watch from the other kunoichi on her team - Eimi - almost an hour ago.

Naruto wasn't dumb enough to say that he didn't trust the Cloud team, not when they had three effectives and he was the only Leaf ninja who could fight. "I can't sleep," he said, and then he realized what the dark-skinned girl had called him. "And I'm not -" he sputtered.

Kasumi laughed, holding out her hand. "Are you sure you don't want another show?" she asked, grinning. "Five hundred ryo."

Naruto shook his head frantically, drawing another laugh. A bolt of lightning crossed the night sky, followed by rolling thunder that echoed through the mountains. The patter of rain on the roof of the way-station - which unfortunately was nothing but an open pavilion - intensified.

For a moment, one of the patients stirred, almost waking. The girl's grin faded as she looked at her heavily bandaged teacher. "I want to hit something," she stated, one hand reaching back and caressing the haft of her hammer.

"This just sucks," Kasumi continued. "Our mission was supposed to be over, you know? We'd scouted out those fake bandits causing trouble, and Tetsu-sensei had just gone to tell the Hot Springs to stop taking their money to look the other way, and once he got back we were going home."

"Fake bandits?" Naruto asked, a memory coming to mind.

"Yeah, some thugs paid by some rich merchant guy to attack traders going overland through here." Kasumi froze for an instant. "Damn it, I shouldn't be talking to you about that."

"I think we ran into them," Naruto said. "They were captured."

"Oh." Kasumi paused. "Well, I guess that makes it a trade of information. Maybe Tetsu-sensei won't be too mad at me." She glanced at her teacher again, worry clear in her eyes.

"Hikaru-san seemed to know what he's doing," Naruto said. "I'm sure your teacher will be fine, Kasumi-san," Naruto said. 

"Hikaru's great," she agreed. "Everyone'll be fine."

 

_"You're a medic?" Naruto asked the pale-haired boy who'd joined him on the wagon._

_"Yes," the boy - his name was Hikaru, Naruto thought he remembered - said shortly. "Let me look at them."_

_Warily, Naruto moved aside, allowing the other boy to kneel down over Keikan and Araimi. "Their breathing is weak," Naruto said. "Heart-rate is high, even though they're unconscious."_

_"It might be a paralysis technique," Hikaru said. "If the enemy put too much chakra in it..." He trailed off, green light gathering in his hand as he touched Keikan's chest. Almost instantly his breathing deepened. "That's it, then. You're lucky I'm here."_

_Naruto understood the theory. A paralysis technique intended for use on ninja might be a slow death for a civilian less able to fight it off. A simple medical technique would allow the medic to use his own chakra to strengthen the victim's resistance. Hikaru kept his hand on Keikan for several more moments, then turned to Araimi. "She's strong enough that she's not in danger," he said._

_Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, ah -"_

_There was a blinding flash as lightning descended from the trees at Hidan, who caught the bolt on his rapidly spinning scythe, sending it blasting at empty ground. Kakashi attacked, joined a moment later by an unfamiliar man in a Cloud uniform. The Cloud team's teacher?_

_"Hikaru-kun!" a female voice called out. "Sakura-san is down!" Naruto turned to see Sasuke and the two kunoichi on Hikaru's team standing over the dead body of the demon hound. His eye's met Sasuke's gaze, and Naruto started at the sight of the crimson Sharingan._

_The three adult ninja stood in a triangle, talking. Naruto ignored them, torn between the need to stay near Keikan and Araimi and desire to rush to Sakura's side. The dilemma was solved when, after the jounin rejoined their battle, Sasuke gently picked Sakura up and brought her over to the wagons._

_She was barely conscious, moaning in pain as Sasuke laid her down next to Keikan and Araimi. Naruto paled as he took in the damage to her shoulder. It had been bad before, mauled by the demon hound they had killed, but she'd aggravated it by fighting, and the bandages he'd wrapped around it were torn and bloodstained._

_"That doesn't look good," Hikaru said._

_"I'll take care of it," Naruto said, grabbing a bottle of painkillers from his medical kit. They wouldn't help much, but they wouldn't hurt. Once Sakura had taken the pills, he went to work. The first step was to clean and disinfect the wound._

_Without asking, Hikaru started helping him. "You're a medic also?"_

_"Training to be," Naruto said shortly._

_"I didn't get your name."_

_"Uzumaki Naruto."_

_"Nii Hikaru." The spectacled boy's hands glowed green briefly. "I can't heal it, but this will help a little."_

_"Thanks." Only when they'd finished bandaging Sakura's shoulder and immobilizing her arm with a sling did Naruto have a chance to see how the battle was going._

 

Naruto wasn't able to stop himself from doing a mental inventory as his eyes swept across the sleeping patients. Sakura's shoulder was probably the worst physical wound; ordinarily he would have said it would take months to heal without advanced medical treatment. In Sakura's case, he couldn't say. Beside her rested Sasuke, recovering from a mild concussion. 

Kakashi was out from chakra exhaustion, not having stirred once since collapsing at the end of the battle. The Cloud team's teacher had a nasty wound across his side and chest from Hidan's scythe. That had left him awake to approve Eimi's plan to head for the way-station together to recover. Despite Hikaru's efforts to heal the wound, the young medic estimated it would be at least half a week before it was safe for Tetsu to travel.

Keikan and Araimi had woken on the way. The merchant had no memory of his time under Hidan's technique, but Araimi had apparently been aware the entire time, just unable to speak or move. Naruto had examined both of them, glad to find no sign of any lingering effects. Hikaru had agreed that neither needed anything more than a good night's rest to fully recover.

He was now sound asleep, next to his teammate Eimi and Kasumi's now-empty bedroll. Naruto hadn't even unpacked his own. There was hardly any point in this situation. Unlike his kit, Sakura's first aid kit contained some caffeine pills; Naruto figured she wouldn't mind and had unsealed them from the scroll and taken a few to ward off sleep.

He didn't know that he needed them. After that fight, he didn't understand how anyone could sleep.

 

_The battle between the jounin ended with shocking suddenness. One moment, there were blurs of motion Naruto couldn't follow all around, bolts of lightning flashing and bursts of flame flying between them. The next, the Cloud jounin lay face down in the mud, and Kakashi was on one knee, a few feet ahead of Naruto, breathing heavily._

_Past Kakashi stood Hidan, leaning on his scythe. He was panting too, but after a moment he straightened, grinning widely. "Now, it's time for the fun part." He stepped forward._

_That broke the younger ninja's paralysis. "Tetsu-sensei!" shouted Hikaru, running straight for his teacher's fallen form. Hidan turned toward him, raising his scythe._

_Beside Naruto, the Cloud kunoichi Eimi's hands raced through seals. She mouthed something Naruto didn't catch, something about fireflies maybe, and tiny, flickering sparks of electricity flew from her outstretched hands, forming a wall in between Hidan and Hikaru._

_The silver-haired man stopped short, reaching out and touching a bolt with one finger. The shock didn't seem to bother him. Hikaru passed the man and reached Tetsu, kneeling over his teacher, hands glowing green._

_"Medics," Hidan said disgustedly. "You're hardly even worth killing. What the hell kind of moron learns ninjutsu and uses it for something as fucking pathetic as healing?"_

_"The kind who cares about his friends!" Naruto knew he shouldn't have answered aloud. It was stupid, idiotic, to attract this man's attention. But Naruto didn't want to let someone like this Hidan mock his dream like that._

_"Naruto," Kakashi said weakly._

_Hidan turned back to the rest of the ninja, throwing back his head and laughing. "Friends? A real ninja doesn't have friends, kid." His eyes seemed to gleam in the dim light. "There's only two kinds of people in the world. Ones I can kill, and ones I can't kill yet." He grinned. "Care to take a fucking guess which one you kids are?"_

_Hidan pointed his scythe at Eimi without waiting for a response. "You die first, lightning girl. I guess you're supposed to be a chuunin or something, so try to be entertaining." His killing intent flared._

_Eimi shook, but it was Kasumi who answered. "Fuck you, asshole!" she roared, raising her hammer and charging._

_"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, "what do we do?" He didn't answer for a moment, still just kneeling and panting._

_"We... we have to run," Sasuke said, his voice sick. "We can't -" Kasumi reached Hidan, who blocked her first blow with the haft of his own weapon, then caught her across the stomach with it, knocking her back several feet._

_"Wait your turn," Hidan mocked, kicking at the ground. A wave of mud swamped the hammer-wielding kunoichi, knocking her down and sliding her away from Hidan. A ninjutsu or just raw strength? Naruto wasn't sure which was worse._

_"We can't run," Eimi said. "He'll just hunt us down. We..." she trailed off, shaking visibly. "We lost when the jounin went down. It's over." The wall of dancing electricity shielding Hikaru and Tetsu faded away. Hidan laughed and turned away from his fallen foe, back toward the rest of the ninja._

_"Kakashi-sensei's still -" Naruto started to protest._

_"I'm almost out of chakra," Kakashi said quietly. "I've only got one more technique in me, and he's too fast for me to hit with anything strong enough."_

_Something flew at Hidan from behind. He whirled about, striking it out of the air with his scythe, and Naruto saw Kasumi's hammer, electricity crackling around it, slam into the ground. The impact made a crater, mud flying everywhere._

_Naruto took a step forward. "If I snared him," he replied, just as softly._

_"How?" Sasuke demanded. "He's too -"_

_"We can't just give up! If we can't run, we might as well fight with everything we have!" Damn it, since when was Sasuke such a coward?_

_Having attracted Hidan's attention once more, Kasumi stood, raising one hand. Her hammer flew out of the crater toward her, and she caught it with practiced ease. Seals Naruto couldn't recognize at this distance glowed bright blue along the stone head. "I might not be a chuunin, but I'm no wimp!" she shouted. "Don't you dare turn your back on me!"_

_"Neat toy," Hidan said. "I think I'll kill your teammates with it." Ignoring everyone else, he slowly walked toward Kasumi, scythe spinning in his hands._

_"I... I have to help her," Eimi said. She still shook, but only a little, and she glanced at Naruto. "You're right."_

_"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked._

_"If you can snare him," Kakashi said, and Naruto didn't begrudge him the dubious note in his tired voice, "I can kill him."_

_"That settles it, then," Naruto said. "We give Kakashi-sensei his chance."_

_"You're not that good," Sasuke said. His eyes were black again, Naruto realized. "You can't snare me half the time, how do you expect to -"_

_"Shut up!" Naruto said. "I know, bastard! Do you have a better plan?"_

_"No," Sasuke said._

_"Then stop being a damn coward!"_

_"We have a chance," Eimi said quietly. "Numbers matter, and I have a binding technique also. We all go after him. We only have to be lucky once." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself._

_"Are you with us, Sasuke?" Naruto demanded._

_"Yes," he said tightly. His eyes flickered and became crimson again._

_Naruto heard someone moving behind him. "Sakura-chan, no!"_

_"You heard her," she said weakly. "Numbers matter."_

_"Sakura-san," Eimi started._

_"No," Sasuke said. "You'll just get in the way, dead last. Stay back." For once, Naruto didn't want to hit him. If that made Sakura back down like she usually did... he'd forgive Sasuke for the harsh words._

_Sakura didn't say anything, but she sat back down on the wagon. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back to where Hidan was toying with Kasumi. "Let's go," he said, reaching into his pouch for a weapon. Eimi visibly steeled herself, and together the three genin broke into a run._

_Sasuke stopped short, hands flicking through seals. Rolling fire poured from his mouth over Naruto and Eimi's heads, lighting the night and covering the final feet of their advance. Naruto hurled his kunai through the flames, and heard it strike home over the fire's roaring, but as Sasuke's technique died Naruto saw it falling to the ground._

_"A swarm of weaklings is still weak," Hidan observed, spinning his scythe in a circle and forcing his opponents back._

_Naruto dove under it, hand reaching for Hidan's leg. "Chakra -"_

_Hidan kicked him in the face. "No," he said. His scythe came down on Naruto._

_Then Sasuke was there, blocking the blow with a kunai. The force drove his blade from his hands. His feet skidded through the mud, unable to find traction._

_Before he could even fall, Hidan brought the blunt end of his scythe up with a flick of his hands, striking the dark-haired boy across the forehead with perfect accuracy. Sasuke went flying, and didn't rise when he landed._

_"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, echoed a moment later by Sakura's own distant cry of "Sasuke-kun!"_

_"Don't worry about him," Hidan said. The two Cloud kunoichi tried to attack from behind, only to be warded off by his scythe without him even having to turn around. "Those eyes are too fucking valuable to kill. Worry about your own sorry hides."_

_His scythe came down again, but Naruto was able to roll out of the way. He tried to rise, but suddenly a thick, smothering miasma of killing intent paralyzed him. Kasumi and Eimi fell to their knees. "I just noticed Sharingan Kakashi moved," Hidan said, raising his scythe again, "and hid his presence. I can't play with you if you're plotting something with him." Bizarrely, he actually sounded sorry._

_"No!" Even through the paralysis, Naruto started at the sudden cry._

_"Sakura-chan," he gasped. "No -"_

_The pink-haired girl awkwardly ran at Hidan, one arm still in its sling. Hidan stared at her as she drew near. "What are you even trying to do?" he asked. "Seriously." Casually, he bent down to pick up a fallen kunai and tossed it at the charging girl._

_Sakura threw herself to the ground to avoid the weapon. Hidan shook his head. "Stay down and I'll kill you last," he advised, turning his attention back to the other young ninja. He raised his scythe._

_Naruto tried to rise, with every ounce of willpower he possessed, but the primal terror that Hidan caused so effortlessly was too powerful, sapping his muscles of their strength. All he could do was shake._

_"I... I won't let you hurt Naruto-kun or Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, slowly crawling to her feet. "I won't!" How could she even move?_

_"You can't stop me," Hidan said amusedly. His killing intent flared again. "You won't even be fun to kill. Just give up."_

_Sakura bent over, shaking, but she didn't fall. "No," she growled, in a voice that didn't sound like her own._

_"Just die then," Hidan commanded, raising his scythe and drawing in range of the girl in a single stride. The little bit of extra distance from the man let Naruto struggle to his knees, but it was futile. Hidan's scythe started to fall._

_Then it flicked aside, blocking a kunai that flew out of the darkness. "Not smart, Kakashi," Hidan said. He half-turned toward the source of the thrown weapon._

_Sakura slammed into the man, actually driving him back a step. Her good hand clawed pointlessly at Hidan's chest. Not that Naruto imagined a weapon would have done much better, since he'd survived having his throat cut by Kakashi._

_Keeping his scythe between him and the direction Kakashi's kunai had come from, Hidan grabbed Sakura's arm with his other hand. Laughing, he lifted her into the air. She kicked at him, but Hidan weathered the blows without showing any pain. Sakura snarled and bit at his hand._

_"Bitch," Hidan said lightly. He swung her about to face where Kakashi must have been hidden. "Care to toss another kunai?" he asked mockingly, drawing Sakura in close to shield his body._

_Sakura's injured arm tore lose of the sling, pressing something against Hidan's chest. Naruto had just a moment to recognize one of the explosive tags he'd made for Sakura. "Bitch," Hidan snarled, much less amused, an instant before it detonated._

_The explosion was weak; either Sakura hadn't had enough chakra left to fully activate it or Hidan had somehow partly defused it. The blast still threw Sakura loose and sent Hidan staggering back. Most importantly, the killing intent that froze Naruto shattered, the will that drove it distracted and unfocused for an instant._

_Everything happened at once. Hidan almost went for Sakura, who wasn't moving, then whirled about to face the attack from the others. Naruto dove for Hidan's legs again. Hidan's scythe moved to intercept him. It stopped short, Kasumi's hammer blocking it, seal-light and electricity glowing around it as it pressed against the metal haft._

_"When I hold my hammer," the dark-skinned girl grunted, "there's nothing in this world I can't destroy!"_

_Seemingly taking the boast as advice, Hidan did something with his weapon Naruto couldn't follow, sending the hammer flying, then using the haft like a staff to knock its wielder to the ground._

_Naruto darted for his legs again, but Hidan danced out of the way. Then Eimi was coming down on him from above. Her hand caught the edge of Hidan's shirt as he dodged. "Raiton: Lightning Bind!" Discs of electricity wrapped around his arms and legs, forcing them together._

_With a roar, Hidan broke through them, the lightning shattering into a thousand shards, but they held him just long enough for Naruto to reach him._

_"Chakra Chain -" He just wasn't fast enough. Hidan was slowing, Naruto thought, but the gap was just too big. Even as the man forced Eimi back with a wild swing of his scythe, he stepped back, out of Naruto's grasp, almost tripping over Sakura's still form._

_Sakura's good arm suddenly lashed out, grabbing Hidan's ankle. She pulled down, and Hidan actually stumbled. "Naruto-kun!" she yelled hoarsely._

_Naruto was already in motion, closing the distance before Hidan could shake Sakura off. "Chakra Chain Snare!" Naruto poured his chakra into his technique, forming more chain then ever before, enough to loop around both legs. He could feel Hidan's own chakra fighting it off, knew he could only hold him for a second or two._

_It was more than enough. Blood flew everywhere. Kakashi's hand was rammed through Hidan's back, spine, and heart, coming out the front of his chest. Bright, electric light danced around it, and a sound like chirping birds filled the air._

_"It's over," Kakashi said, his voice calm and composed. "Take your own advice and just die."_

_Hidan coughed up blood, and then Naruto no longer felt him struggling against the chakra chain that bound him. Unthinkingly, he let the chains dissolve._

_Kakashi withdrew his arm, letting Hidan's corpse fall to the ground. His other arm, shaking, lowered his forehead protector over a crimson Sharingan that Naruto was too numb to wonder about. "Good job, all of you," Kakashi said._

_Then, he collapsed, splashing Naruto and Sakura with mud as he landed._

 

There was really only one thought that came to Naruto's mind as he studied the sleepers. "We were lucky." That Hidan guy had claimed to have destroyed the Hot Springs village. Even if that was an exaggeration, he'd still basically beaten Kakashi and Tetsu. One chuunin and five genin, one of whom was walking wounded, should have died.

"Yeah," Kasumi agreed. "We were."

* * *

Sakura was neither the first nor the last of her team to wake after the battle with Hidan. Sasuke had, she learned, awakened at dawn the next morning, though Naruto had insisted he continued to rest. Sakura had woken in the afternoon, but had only had time to reassure herself that everyone was safe and eat before, exhausted, she had returned to her bedroll. Kakashi had stirred once, slightly after Sakura had woken on the second day after the battle, but only for a few minutes.

Today, Sakura felt no more tired than normal, and her arm - bound tightly in a sling - ached so little she considered freeing it as she dressed, but she had no desire to advertise her inhuman regeneration. The weather had finally improved, and she had to blink several times from the unexpected brightness of the sun shining brightly in a clear sky when she briefly poked her head out of the way-station pavilion's shade. It was bitterly cold, but still far more enjoyable than the endless rain of the past week.

Sakura exchanged morning greetings with Naruto when he came inside as she ate a small breakfast. The blond's response was muttered and almost incoherent. Worried, Sakura followed him as he went over to check on Kakashi. The two jounin were the only ninja left bedridden, but the Cloud's teacher was awake, his team clustered around his bed, talking quietly among themselves. They hushed briefly when Naruto and Sakura passed, then resumed when they saw what the pair of Leaf ninja were doing.

"Is Kakashi-sensei going to be okay, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked quietly herself. She knew chakra exhaustion could be serious from the harsh warnings the academy teachers had given all their students.

It took Naruto several moments to answer. "He should be... up and moving in a couple days." He blinked several times and shook his head as if to clear it. "A little longer to travel."

"When was the last time you slept?" Sakura asked him.

"Not since we got here," someone said suddenly.

Sakura started, and - embarrassed to be snuck up on so easily - turned to see the Cloud medic Hikaru. The rest of his team had departed while Naruto examined Kakashi, and his teacher now seemed to be dozing. The boy smiled gently, one of his hands adjusting his glasses. "He wouldn't sleep, watching over you and Uchiha-san," he explained.

As if on cue, Naruto yawned loudly. "You should get some sleep, Naruto-kun," Sakura said. Had he really been up for the past two days without sleep? "Sasuke-kun and I will be fine, and we can wake you if anything happens with Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto yawned again. "I guess," he said. "Let me get my bedroll." He started to wander off, but in the wrong direction if he intended to retrieve his things from the carts.

"You can just use mine for now," Sakura offered quickly, giving her friend a soft push in its direction with her free arm.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with another yawn. "Remind me to replace your caffeine pills when we get home." It took Sakura a moment to realize what he meant; she didn't remember the first aid kit Kabuto had given her containing caffeine pills, but she hadn't memorized its contents. Naruto didn't bother to undress, almost collapsing on top of Sakura's bedroll. Moments later, his loud snores filled the air.

"I'm glad you were able to convince him," Hikaru said quietly. "It's not healthy to abuse those stimulant pills like that."

Irrational guilt welled up in Sakura, but a moment's thought was enough to push it aside. She wasn't the only member of the team who had been out of commission after all.

"Loud kid." The new voice almost made Sakura jump again, and she and Hikaru turned to the Cloud jounin, who had woken from his brief doze.

"Sorry, ah..." Sakura realized that she couldn't remember the man's name.

"Tetsu," he said. "And don't worry about it. He deserves the rest, and I've slept through worse." He smiled briefly, then closed his eyes. If he had any trouble falling back asleep the instant they shut, Sakura couldn't tell.

After a few moment's awkward silence, Hikaru went outside, and Sakura followed a second or two behind. Looking about, Araimi and Keikan were by the carts, deep in conversation with Eimi. Kasumi sat on a branch halfway up a tree, idly playing with her hammer and keeping watch over the road. Sakura couldn't see Sasuke anywhere. Where could he have gone? Naruto hadn't said anything, but in the state he'd been in Sakura didn't know if he'd have noticed.

Sakura headed toward the carts, but Hikaru didn't follow, instead wandering in Kasumi's direction. As she drew near, Sakura was able to overhear Keikan and Eimi speaking.

"You have our thanks," the kunoichi was saying.

Keikan snorted at that. "You're paying me, and it's the least I could do after... well. Thanks are hardly required." They were making some kind of deal? What did the Cloud want?

Araimi noticed Sakura first, and she quickly broke away from her father's side, rushing over to embrace Sakura with a force that almost knocked her over. "Sakura-chan!"

"A-raimi-chan," Sakura stuttered in response, surprise at the exuberant greeting making her stumble over the other girl's name.

"I'm glad you're okay," Araimi said. Then she suddenly released Sakura, giving her injured arm a worried glance. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"It's fine," Sakura said automatically.

Keikan approached the pair of girls. Eimi had politely withdrawn a few steps, although not so far that she couldn't hear every word. "How are you doing?" the merchant asked quietly.

"It's fine," Sakura said again.

A frown passed over Keikan's face, but he didn't press the issue. "It seems I owe you another thanks, Sakura-kun," he stated.

Sakura shifted under his gaze. "I didn't do that much," she said. She'd killed a demon hound while Naruto held it down, and against Hidan... her memories were clouded with rage, but she remembered the fear as she'd struggled in Hidan's grasp, barely remembering to use the explosive tag hidden in her injured hand as a final, desperate gambit. "Naruto-kun is the one who caught him, and Kakashi-sensei..."

"To hear Araimi tell it," Keikan said, "you faced him down alone after everyone else was... incapacitated."

"It... wasn't really like that," Sakura said. He was making it sound like she'd done something brave, like she hadn't been half-insane from terror. She thought she heard Eimi make a sound, but she wasn't certain.

"Sakura-chan," Araimi started, but she stopped at a look from her father.

"Be that as it may," Keikan said. "I've already given Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun my thanks, and our friends from Cloud. He bowed, Sakura thought even more deeply than when he'd thanked her after the incident at the hot springs resort. "Thank you, again."

Sakura felt her cheeks heat. She wasn't any more certain how to respond to this than before, either. "You're paying us," she said weakly, echoing Keikan's own words of a few moments before.

Keikan snorted as he straightened. "I'm paying you to scare off bandits. Not to fight... whatever that man was."

"A jounin, and a powerful one," Eimi said quietly, abandoning the fiction that she wasn't listening. "That's why it's important that we recover the body."

Sakura looked at the other kunoichi. "Eimi-san?"

"I am hiring one of Keikan-san's carts, to retrieve Hidan's corpse." She paused, then added. "And the other Hot Springs ninja."

"Tora-san," Sakura said. She hadn't thought of the man once, had she? But... he'd been cut down, right in front of her. And... Hidan had said something about children.

"Yes," Eimi said. "If your team wants to send a representative along..." She trailed off.

"I..." Sakura looked around. Kakashi and Naruto were asleep. Where was Sasuke?

Eimi seemed to grasp her thoughts. She gestured at the woods behind the way-station. "Uchiha-san went off to train privately," she said.

"I need to talk to him," Sakura said.

"We'll need to unload the cart, anyway," Keikan said. "Araimi."

"Yes, Papa," his daughter said. "I'll get started." She gave Sakura a parting smile, then raced off to the cart she usually drove, which had less cargo than Keikan's.

Sakura headed off to find Sasuke, but hesitated as she reached the edge of the woods. With Naruto and Kakashi asleep and Sasuke off training, she was the only one of the team present and awake. She couldn't just leave Keikan and Araimi, not to mention her sleeping comrades, alone with a team of foreign ninja. Not that she'd do much good if she had to fight Eimi, Kasumi, and Hikaru all by herself, but... not much good was better than none. 

"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled out as loudly as she could. What had he been thinking, going off on his own like that? Sakura forced down the sudden irritation. Sasuke knew what he was doing, she told herself. Surely he had a good reason.

There wasn't any response. Sakura yelled Sasuke's name again. What was she going to do if he didn't come? What if he was hurt somewhere?

Finally Sasuke emerged from the cover of the trees. Sakura opened her mouth, but she stopped as he fixed her with a crimson gaze. What looked like an extra pupil on each red eye stared at her. The sight made her stomach queasy for some reason. Unthinkingly, she stepped back, swallowing nervously. Her stomach itched, and she imagined she could feel the spiral seal that marred it darkening.

"What?" Sasuke demanded.

"Your eyes," Sakura managed to say.

Sasuke blinked, and when his eyes opened again they were black. "The Sharingan," he explained.

"I... know," Sakura said, the strange feelings fading away just as quickly as they came. "I just..." She tried to come up with an explanation that wasn't awkward. "I wasn't expecting to see them like that." It sounded weak to her own ears.

Sasuke's mouth twitched, and Sakura told herself it was a smile. "What do you need?" he asked.

Sakura quickly explained the situation. "Are the clients going?" Sasuke asked, glancing in the direction of the way-station.

"They didn't say," Sakura said.

Sasuke grunted irritably, and started to walk back to the way-station. Sakura trailed after him. "Where's Naruto?" he asked suddenly as they neared the rest of the group.

"Asleep," Sakura answered quietly. Sasuke just frowned, and didn't say anything more until reached the carts. Eimi had started to help Araimi unload her cart.

"Uchiha-san," Eimi said in greeting. Sasuke just nodded shortly.

Sakura realized it was up to her to ask the question. "Are you or your father going to be driving the cart, Araimi-chan?" she asked.

Eimi raised a hand. "I understand the position that would put your team in, Sakura-san," she said. "Hikaru-kun can drive a cart."

"Good," Sasuke said simply.

"If one of you wishes to come, though," Eimi said, "the offer still stands." She flushed suddenly. "I'm not trying to hide what we're doing or anything," she added quickly. In the distance, Kasumi laughed. Eimi shot a glare over Sakura's shoulder, probably at the other Cloud kunoichi.

"Or to trick them into splitting up through reverse psychology?" Kasumi asked loudly, walking up to Araimi and the other three ninja. Araimi started to laugh, but trailed off when no one else did.

"Kasumi," Eimi almost growled. "You are not helping."

"Man, only the civilian seems how funny all this is?" Kasumi asked. Sakura really didn't see the humor. The Cloud and the Leaf's last war was in her own lifetime, fought in this very country. "So is fancy-eyes or Sakura-chan coming or not?" As always, Kasumi stressed the inappropriate familiar suffix after Sakura's name.

Sakura looked at Sasuke. "No," he said firmly, glaring at Kasumi. The redhead smirked back at him.

"I understand," was all Eimi said.

About a quarter-hour later, the cart was unloaded, and Eimi sent Kasumi and Hikaru with it to return to the site of the battle. Sakura spent the next while silently watching as Keikan and Araimi checked over their cargo for damage. Sasuke didn't go back to his training, but he didn't seem inclined to talk, seating himself on an old tree stump where he could watch both the clients and the way-station where Naruto and Kakashi slept. Eimi gave both Leaf ninja a wide berth, alternating between checking on her own teacher and watching the roadway.

Sakura found Sasuke much more entertaining to watch than Keikan and Araimi's slow inventory. After a few minutes, he noticed her attention, and much to Sakura's surprise and pleasure he gestured for her to join him.

"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" she asked, not quite meeting his eyes as she sat on the stump next to him.

He edged over to give her room, but didn't speak for a few moments, his gaze following Eimi as she went into the way-station. "Your arm," he said quietly. "How is it?"

"It's fine," Sakura said automatically. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

Sasuke snorted. "Fine or fine?" he asked.

"Fine," Sakura answered, and then she felt her blush deepen. "It doesn't hurt," she admitted, shifting uncomfortably. Couldn't Sasuke talk about something else? "I think it's healed."

"Don't tell anyone," Sasuke ordered, "and don't let their medic look at it."

Sakura hadn't been planning on doing either of those anyway, but she just nodded and said, "I understand."

Eimi emerged from the way-station, apparently done checking on her teacher. She glanced curiously at Sakura and Sasuke, but didn't approach. Sasuke watched as she walked around, aimlessly so far as Sakura could tell.

"How was your training, Sasuke-kun?" she asked. "What were you working on?"

Sasuke frowned suddenly, his eyes not leaving Eimi. "Don't ask, dead last," he said shortly.

The unexpected harshness stole Sakura's voice for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," she said when she found it. 

Sasuke just grunted, and he expression didn't lift. After a moment, he stood. "I'm going to watch the road," he said. "Keep an eye on the others."

He walked away without another word, and Sakura silently watched him go. Why had he reacted like that? Sasuke could be... like that sometimes, but it was usually when Naruto annoyed him or she'd screwed up somehow.

Araimi and Keikan were finishing their examination of the cargo, and thankfully it looked like only a few boxes of cigars were damaged. As they finished, Eimi approached, holding something in her hands. Sakura quickly rose and joined them, discovering that the other kunoichi was holding a blue bag Sakura vaguely recognized.

"I never did get the chance to give you the haircut I offered, Araimi-san," Eimi said by way of explanation.

"Oh," Araimi said. "I guess since we're all friends again..." She glanced at Sakura.

Sakura couldn't see any reason to object, and just shrugged awkwardly. She still watched as Eimi set to work undoing Araimi's braid, but when she thought she heard Naruto saying something from inside the way-station, she felt comfortable enough to go check on him. Both Naruto and Kakashi were sleeping soundly, but Sakura reminded herself to come back and check regularly. The Cloud jounin woke when Sakura passed him, but didn't say anything.

Sakura returned to her clients' side, and after Eimi finished trimming Araimi's hair, the next couple hours passed uneventfully. Sakura wasn't able to stop herself from sending frequent glances at the tree Sasuke had occupied as his watch post, but he didn't show any sign of stirring until Kasumi and Hikaru returned.

The two bodies on the cart were covered by cloth tarps, which the two Cloud genin didn't remove as they gently placed the bodies on the ground before returning the cart to Keikan. Sakura swallowed as she stared at the two fallen ninja. With the covering, there was no way to tell which was which.

"I'll get Tetsu-sensei," Eimi said, and she went under the pavilion. She emerge a few minutes later, supporting a clearly weak Tetsu as he slowly made his way over to the bodies.

"Show me," the jounin demanded simply.

Hikaru nodded, pulling back the covering from the first ninja's head. It was Tora. Someone had closed his eyes, Sakura noted, before she had to look away. He was someone she hardly knew, and he hadn't been a friend, but it was uncomfortable to see him like that. Even Sasuke looked a little sick, only looking at the body for a moment. Tetsu just nodded, and Hikaru covered Tora back up before pulling the tarp away from Hidan.

Hidan's eyes had been left open, and Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she saw that unmoving face. For all his monstrous power, he was really dead. Hikaru had pulled the cover back further than he had with Tora, displaying the hole Kakashi's final technique had made in Hidan's chest. Sakura could feel herself going green, and she looked away again. Strangely, this time Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the man, and for just a moment it turned crimson.

Tetsu started to bend down, but seemed to think better of it. "You checked?" he asked.

"It's his real body," Hikaru said. "No alterations or disguise techniques that I can tell."

"Good," Tetsu said. "Eimi, put them in one of the storage scrolls." The chuunin nodded. Tetsu glanced at Sakura and Sasuke. "I assume the Leaf have no objections to us taking possession of the bodies?"

Sakura waited for Sasuke to say something, but he didn't. After a moment, she shook her head.

"What's going on?" Sakura started at the unexpected voice, and turned to see Naruto, rubbing at his eyes.

It took a few minutes to explain matters, while Tetsu went back to his rest and Eimi set to work dealing with the corpses. Naruto quickly dragooned Sasuke into helping with reloading the cart. With her arm theoretically unusable, Sakura couldn't really help, so she went to check on Kakashi.

Once again, Tetsu seemed to wake instantly as she drew near, but he still didn't say anything. Sakura stared down at her teacher for a few minutes, wishing she could do something to help him. Kakashi's breathing seemed to be better, and he actually stirred a little when Sakura whispered a quiet wish for his quick recovery, but he didn't wake.

Once the cart was reloaded, to her surprise Naruto dragged Sakura aside, a bundle of scrolls under his arm. "You offered to help me with my studies, right?" he reminded Sakura.

Sakura nodded. "I don't know how much help I'll be," she warned him as they sat down over the scrolls. "I haven't studied any of these before."

"I'll loan you the ones I'm done with," Naruto said. He grinned. "They're even more boring than those Gutsy Shinobi books, though."

"The Gutsy Shinobi series is excellent," Sakura protested, but she wasn't able to stop from laughing. 

Before they could start studying, Sasuke approached. "I'm going to train," he announced, and turned to leave. 

Naruto nodded and started to unroll one of his scrolls, then stopped as he followed Sakura's gaze as she watched Sasuke vanish into the trees. "Wait, he meant he was going off into the woods?"

Sakura nodded weakly.

"And he calls me an idiot?" Naruto rose suddenly. "I'm going to go drag him -"

"Don't," Sakura said quietly. She didn't want the two of them getting into a fight. "I'll get him," she added quickly. 

"All right," Naruto said slowly. "You're second-in-command, I guess," he added with a laugh. "Make sure he remembers that if he gives you any trouble."

Sakura started at the reminder. Kakashi had named her second-in-command, when the mission started. But that was before things had... gotten serious, right? It didn't mean anything.

Shaking her head, Sakura went into woods, and tried to figure out how to get Sasuke to come back without making him angry. After a short distance, the woods behind the way-station ended in a sheer cliff. The cliff rose about ten feet over a small set of natural hot springs, and Sakura found Sasuke standing on one of them.

"Sasuke-kun," she called out hesitantly. Was that lightning she saw flickering around him?

The boy spun about, looking up at Sakura with his red eyes. Sakura steeled herself and met his gaze. "What is it, dead last?" he demanded. 

"You... you shouldn't go off like this on your own," Sakura said hesitantly. "If something was to happen... if that Hidan had allies..."

"I'm not going to just sit around and waste my time," Sasuke said.

"You can train at the way-station," Sakura said.

"In front of the Cloud?" Sasuke snorted.

Sakura blinked. "Was that... Eimi-san's technique?" Sakura asked. The Sharingan was supposed to be able to copy ninjutsu, wasn't it?

Sasuke glared at her. "Don't say anything," he ordered.

"I wouldn't!" Sakura answered. But she guessed he had a point that he couldn't train with the technique in front of the girl he'd taken it from. "We still have to stick together, though," she said. What would she do if Sasuke refused? No matter what Naruto said, she couldn't try to pull rank on him. That would be ridiculous.

Sasuke grunted irritably, but his eyes turned black and he walked up the cliff-side and started back toward the way-station. Sakura followed him, but right before they emerged from the trees Sasuke stopped in front of her. "Is it true?" he asked harshly. "What Naruto says about the fight?" He didn't need to specify which one.

"I... I don't know what Naruto-kun said," Sakura answered weakly.

"That you could move under his killing intent," Sasuke said. "That you hit him with an explosive tag and held him down so Naruto could snare him."

Sakura swallowed. It was... it was true, even if she hadn't thought of it in those terms. "Yes," she said. For the moment, a brief image of Sasuke thanking her for saving him and confessing his love passed through her head, but she forced it aside. That wasn't Sasuke.

Sasuke turned back to face her. "How?" he demanded.

Sakura didn't have an answer. How had she done that? The killing intent, she had felt at first, but with the rage of the Nine-Tails burning in her gut, it had paled in comparison. She couldn't say that. As for the rest, though... "He toyed with me," Sakura said quietly. "I wasn't a threat. And I got lucky."

Sasuke just grunted, but he seemed satisfied with that answer, and together they walked back to the way-station. Naruto flashed Sakura a grin when he saw them. Sasuke grunted, but all he said was, "Don't take too long with this. I want to spar later."

Naruto nodded. "Any time, bastard," he said. Sasuke just nodded and left his teammates to their work as Sakura sat down beside the other boy.

Much as she'd predicted, most of the material went over Sakura's head as she'd only read a little beyond the academy courses and Naruto was working his way through the course-load for apprentice medics. She got even more lost when Hikaru noticed what they were studying and joined them, but Naruto's enthusiasm was infectious and the little she did understand of the boys' discussion of medical ninjutsu was fascinating. None of it was likely to be of any use to her, though. Everyone knew that medical ninjutsu took almost perfect control, and Sakura had barely maintained passing marks in the chakra control exercises in the academy.

Soon enough, it was time for dinner, and Naruto had to put his scrolls away. Tetsu actually emerged from the way-station, once more supported by Eimi, to join them, but he waited until everyone was almost finished with their food before speaking.

"Which one of you is in command?" he asked the Leaf ninja suddenly.

"Sakura-chan is," Naruto answered quickly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Sakura felt her cheeks heat. It was technically true, but still... she wasn't any sort of commander.

"Very well," Tetsu said. None of the Cloud ninja showed any sign of shock or disbelief, to Sakura's own surprise. "We need to discuss where we go from here."

"This sounds like a conversation I should be a part of." Everyone looked up.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said happily, jumping to his feet. The jounin was up, and had somehow acquired a large stick that he used like a cane as he hobbled out of the way-station.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said, but his eye stayed fixed on the Cloud jounin.

"Kakashi," Tetsu said. He covered his metal arm, resting at his side, with his other hand.

"Tetsu," Kakashi replied simply.

Waving off Eimi's efforts to help, Tetsu slowly stood. "Let's talk," he said, and the two jounin slowly made their way back to the way-station. No one seemed to be inclined to follow them, and the two teams of ninja awkwardly stared at each other. Araimi nervously inched closer to Sakura.

Despite the sudden tension, Sakura still let out a sigh of relief. If Kakashi was awake, he would take care of everything, and it would all be okay. There'd be no more of this nonsense from Naruto about her being in command.

No one spoke until the jounin returned.

"I imagine you're impatient to be on your way," Kakashi said the Keikan as he seated himself and started helping himself to what was left of the food. Somehow he managed to eat without ever lowering his mask while Sakura was looking.

"I won't lie and say no," Keikan said, "but I understand the situation."

"Eimi," Tetsu said.

"Yes, sir?"

"You will be traveling to the Frost Country border. Their should be a Frost team waiting for Keikan-san there. You'll advise them of the situation and bring them back here to start their escort duties."

"Yes, sir," Eimi stated again.

"I can't pay you -" Keikan began, sounding surprised.

"It's no matter," Tetsu said. "I would be sending her anyway, with messages for my commanders." His gaze swept the ninja. "We're in an unusual situation here, if the Hot Springs were wiped out."

"But discussion of that can wait until Keikan-san and Araimi-san are safely on their way," Kakashi interjected.

Tetsu nodded, and said nothing more, and soon afterward Naruto and Hikaru had both jounin back in bed resting. It wasn't too much later that Sakura joined them, weariness sinking into her bones with enough suddenness that she was asleep almost before she finished getting into her bedroll.

* * *

_"It's him," the kunoichi said firmly, though quietly. Two Leaf ninja hid in the trees over a clearing, not far from the empty, trapped house of Tazuna the bridge-builder._

_The ninja by her side didn't seem surprised by the application of the male gender to the figure down below, despite the feminine kimono he wore. Apparently unaware of the two ninja, the boy knelt amidst a cluster of herbs, carefully selecting which ones he plucked and placed in the basket at his side. "Go fetch Hana-taichou and Kabuto-kun, Tsubaki. I'll keep watch."_

_The woman in the trees frowned at her companions words. "Be careful, Takeru. He's dangerous."_

_"I know." Takeru smiled thinly. "He won't even know I'm here."_

_Tsubaki didn't answer, but she left, not disturbing a single leaf with her passage. Takeru settled in to wait. The minutes passed with agonizing slowness, but long experience with similar watches, though in far less dangerous situations, helped the ninja stay calm. Even when the boy below took his basket and rose, turning to leave, he didn't panic._

_The genin's hands moved through a well-worn set of seals, his green eyes focused on the boy as he cast his genjutsu. The boy's path out of the clearing turned, becoming a circle around it. The watching ninja smiled, and settled in for another wait._

_The boy stopped before he had completed a single full circuit. While one hand held onto his basket, the other formed a single seal, and the illusion twisting his direction shattered. His hand started to move through more half-seals._

_Years of reflexes guided Takeru's reaction, a pair of kunai leaving his hands without thought, one in the other's shadow. The boy caught one, used it to block the other, and then tossed it aside, not even dropping the basket he held in his other hand. His free hand reformed a seal. "Hyouton: Ice Blade."_

_Takeru's green eyes widened in surprise, and he leapt away instants before a sheet of glistening ice sliced through the branch he rested on, sending it crashing to the floor. He didn't have time to recover his balance, a pair of senbon the boy tossed negligently forcing him to abandon his next perch. He landed on another branch. A moment later his eyes widened again, this time in fear, as an explosive tag flew through the air and pasted itself to the tree trunk next to him. He dove for the ground, the loud explosion chasing him down._

_He landed in a roll, coming up into a crouch. The boy, still unmoving, watched him with impassive eyes, his hand forming more seals. Ropes erupted from out of the ground, wrapping around Takeru and binding him to a tree trunk. He tested their strength, and found he could barely move his arms._

_The boy finally set down his basket. He stepped toward Takeru, but didn't come closer than a half-dozen paces. "Zabuza-sama will be pleased with me," he said._

_"Haku, right?" Takeru asked._

_"You have me at a disadvantage," the boy answered._

_Takeru glanced at the ropes binding him before answering. "Haruno Takeru."_

_"I am sorry, Haruno-san," Haku said, "but you will be coming with me. If you are cooperative, I may be able to convince Zabuza-sama not to kill you."_

_Takeru's hand twitched. "If I betray my teammates, you mean."_

_"Yes."_

_"I don't think so."_

_Haku bowed his head. "I expected no less, but I hoped for the chance to spare you."_

_"There's nothing stopping you from letting me go."_

_"I will not betray my comrades either, Haruno-san."_

_"I didn't know missing ninja were big on loyalty."_

_Haku's eyes were hard. "I am Zabuza-sama's weapon." He formed a dual-handed seal. "I will give you one last chance, and then I will give you what mercy I can."_

_Takeru clenched his fists tightly. He smiled. "Release," he hissed, and the ropes that bound him vanished. A spear of ice pierced only a piece of deadwood left behind by the replacement technique. Before Haku could follow up, a pair of kunai thudded into the ground at his feet, explosive tags dangling from their hilts. He jumped away, then froze for an instant too long as he landed near a pair of puddles that hadn't been there before._

_Two copies of Tsubaki erupted from the water, short blades crossed underneath Haku's neck. Two more ninja emerged from the shadow of the trees, a silver-haired man and a tattooed woman trailed by a dog. Takeru reappeared next to them. "Just in time, Hana-taichou," he gasped._

_The woman just nodded, before grinning at Haku. "We're going to have a long talk, fake hunter ninja."_

_The boy stood impassively, ignoring both the blades at his throat and the question. "When did you know it was a genjutsu?" he asked Takeru._

_"From the start," Takeru answered._

_The boy smiled. "It takes strength, to let yourself stay at an enemy's mercy like that, the strength that only comes from protecting something." He glanced about. "Your teammates?"_

_"Sure," Takeru said._

_"It was an impressive ambush," Haku said. "Leaf genin are quite skilled."_

_"We try," one Tsubaki said._

_"Enough chit-chat," Hana said. "Kabuto."_

_"Right." The silver-haired medic approached Haku. Green chakra gathered around one hand._

_"Farewell," Haku said. The two Tsubaki doubled over, spears of ice erupting from their chests before they dissolved into water. Kabuto darted forward, his chakra brushing Haku's face for just an instant before the boy vanished in a swirl of leaves._

_"Damn it," Hana snarled. "Get him!"_

_"Where's Tsubaki?" Takeru asked._

_"If we're lucky," Kabuto said, and then he was interrupted by Haku flying back into the clearing. "Right on top of him." Hana's dog pounced, jaws closing around Haku's right leg and drawing a moan of pain._

_Tsubaki entered the clearing. "You're not getting away that easy, kid. I've got a good taste of your chakra now. Body-flicker isn't going to work."_

_Haku seemed woozy, and only responded with another moan._

_Kabuto adjusted his glasses, smiling. "It looks like he didn't escape my anesthesia technique entirely."_

_"Finish it quickly, then, before he recovers," Hana ordered._

_"Of course," Kabuto said. He cautiously approached Haku, then in one rapid motion placed his hand over the boy's mouth. It glowed green once more. "Sleep well."_

* * *

The next day passed mostly without incident. The Cloud chuunin left on her mission to the Frost border shortly after dawn; if Sasuke had judged their position correctly, then he expected she would reach her destination sometime in the evening. With both jounin awake, the awkward intermingling of the past days was thankfully over. The two Cloud genin stayed by their teacher's side; so far as Sasuke could tell doing nothing but keeping wary eyes on the road and the Leaf ninja. 

Kakashi, still hobbling around on that stick he'd found somewhere, let his team rest for a while before announcing his plan for the day. "There's no point in wasting the day," he said, loudly enough that the Cloud were sure to hear him. "I'll be giving each of you some one-on-one training." His mask wrinkled in what Sasuke knew was a smile. "The other two of you can practice tree-climbing while you keep an eye on Keikan-san and Araimi-san."

Naruto gave a theatrical groan. "That's boring," he complained. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Why can't we at least go out back and practice water-walking?"

"Because we're supposed to watch the clients," Sasuke replied. "Idiot."

Naruto laughed. "They could come with us?" he ventured. Sakura smiled slightly, but didn't say anything.

Kakashi's mask wrinkled again. "That's where I'll be taking you," he said. "And since you're so eager, you can be first, Naruto-kun." His mask smoothed. "Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan. I'm in earshot if anything happens."

"Yes, sir," the two said, Sakura a moment after Sasuke.

Kakashi led Naruto toward the hot springs hidden in the woods behind the way-station. With a sigh, Sasuke found a good-sized tree overlooking the clients' carts - Keikan was doing some sort of maintenance while the girl was reading one of Kakashi's books - and set to climbing. The exercise wasn't challenging, not anymore, but he supposed it was better than sitting around and doing nothing.

On a smaller tree next to him, Sakura started make her own slow, hesitant way up. Sasuke resisted the urge to snort. He supposed that with her arm bound, her balance was off, but that was no excuse for almost losing her footing halfway up the tree. How the hell had someone as pathetic as her managed to fight someone like Hidan while he'd -

Sasuke forced the thought from his mind violently, but he could feel his face twist into a snarl as he reached the top of the tree and turned to make his way back down.

"Sasuke-kun?"

The boy almost froze at the girl's quiet voice, and smoothed his face as he turned to look at her, pausing a few feet below the top of her tree, almost at the same level as him. "It's nothing," he said firmly, and continued on his way down. He was not going to be... jealous of the dead last. She'd said it herself; she'd only managed to do anything because of how little threat she'd presented. That wasn't a strategy that would work against that man.

They kept working in silence for perhaps a half-hour before they were interrupted. "Dead last," Sasuke said when he saw Sakura hadn't noticed, even as he jumped to the ground and positioned himself between their visitors and the clients.

Sakura made her way to the ground much more cautiously. "Hikaru-san, Kasumi-san," she said in greeting to the two Cloud genin. Sasuke just grunted.

Hikaru nodded, and Kasumi grinned lazily. "Sakura-chan," the dark-skinned kunoichi returned. "Fancy eyes." Her smile widened. "Is that what they call training in Leaf?"

"It's none of your business how we train," Sasuke said bluntly. "What do you want?" He sought out their teacher, and found him sitting on the same stump Sasuke had used the day before, clearly ignoring the confrontation.

Kasumi glanced at her companion. Hikaru adjusted his glasses with one hand before speaking. "I was wondering if you'd like me to take a look at your shoulder, Sakura-san," he said.

Sakura froze. Her face smoothed quickly, but too artificially. "That's... not necessary." Idiot.

Hikaru pretended to ignore her mistake. "Are you sure?" he said, stepping forward so naturally that even Sasuke almost let it pass. He raised one hand. "Now that Tetsu-sensei is mostly healed, I can spare some chakra. It will cut weeks off the healing time." He smiled, and despite it all Sasuke couldn't see any sign it wasn't genuine.

He still interposed himself between the pale-haired boy and his teammate. "Naruto is our medic," he said firmly. "We don't need your help." Sakura took a step back, and Sasuke moved himself further into the gap between her and the Cloud medic.

"Easy, fancy eyes," Kasumi said, one of her hands hovering over her weapon.

"It's fine, Kasumi," Hikaru said, taking a step back and raising both hands. "I'm just asking. I understand your position, Uchiha-san." His eyes went over Sasuke's shoulder to Sakura. "I'm surprised your chakra control is good enough for that exercise with all the painkillers you must be on, Sakura-san."

Sasuke didn't have to look to know Sakura froze again. "I've... always had... good chakra control," she said hesitatingly, the lie obvious.

Hikaru didn't press, smiling gently, and still the damn expression looked genuine. "I see," was all he said. "Have a successful training session, then," he added, and he turned to leave.

Kasumi hesitated. "I could make your training more interesting..." she began. Sasuke couldn't stop a curious look from passing over his face. One of the girl's hands briefly caressed the haft of her weapon. "You can try to dodge my hammer while you play squirrels," she offered. She actually sounded hopeful!

"No!" Sakura said quickly.

Kasumi laughed. "Have fun then," she said. "Later, Sakura-chan." She gave them a wave as she turned and followed Hikaru back to their teacher's side.

"She's a bigger idiot than Naruto," Sasuke muttered, not quite realizing he spoke aloud.

"I heard that, fancy eyes!" Kasumi shouted back at him.

Sasuke shook his head, and turned back to his tree. Sakura gazed worriedly after the Cloud for a short while, but soon she too returned to their training. It wasn't too long after that Kakashi and Naruto returned.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi said. "Your turn." He turned to leave without another word.

"Tell him," Sasuke ordered the girl quietly. She just nodded and hurried after their teacher.

"Tell him what?" Naruto asked too loudly. Sasuke noticed that his friend's clothes were soaked, but answered his question before asking his own.

Naruto frowned, glancing at where Kasumi and Hikaru were lightly sparring, practicing taijutsu, under their teacher's watchful eye. "So they know," he said.

"Since dead last can't lie," Sasuke agreed.

Naruto glared at him, but shook his head. "They probably already knew," he said. "Since she was able to get back up during... the fight."

"I suppose," Sasuke said. "What did Kakashi-sensei have you doing?"

"Taijutsu practice while walking on water," Naruto said. "It's harder than it sounds." He shivered. "I'm going to go change. It's too damn cold to go around in wet clothes."

The Cloud didn't bother them, and about an hour later Kakashi returned with a subdued-looking Sakura. She wasn't wet, and Sasuke guessed her training must have taken a different form. No doubt her failure at it was the source of her mood.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her with a wave.

Sakura smiled weakly at him,but didn't say anything before returning to her tree. "Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, and Sasuke followed him through the woods, down the short cliff side, and out onto the natural hot springs. Wisps of steam hung in the air as Sasuke and Kakashi faced each other. "Show me," the jounin said. "The technique you copied from Ogushi Eimi."

Sasuke didn't bother to ask how his teacher knew, instead forming the seals with practiced ease. Soon a field of small, flickering bolts of electricity floated between the two ninja. It wasn't as large an area as he'd seen the girl fill, but it was more than twice the size of his first attempt. There didn't seem to be any way to control the electricity, which instead moved randomly.

Kakashi nodded once. "It is called Dance of the Fireflies," he said. So Sasuke had read the girl's lips correctly that night. "A not particularly rare C-rank technique of the Cloud Village. What are its uses?"

Sasuke thought a moment before answering. "Area denial," he said. "Disruption of replications and transformations. Distraction." It wasn't capable of any real damage unless the enemy just charged through it like a moron.

"Not bad." Kakashi observed the field of electricity. "How long can you hold it?"

Sasuke shrugged. After the initial cost, he only felt a minimal drain on his chakra.

Kakashi's mask wrinkled. "There's other techniques, building off of this one, but I'm afraid I don't know them. Still, not bad for your first stolen technique." His eye fixed on Sasuke for a moment. "Lightning and fire, huh?"

"You knew him," Sasuke concluded instantly. He knew more than well enough what the first elements that man had mastered were.

"Yes," Kakashi said. "I did."

Sasuke waited for the words of fake sympathy and pity he'd heard so many times before. Instead, Kakashi reached out a touched one of the electric bolts. With a sudden crack, the electricity discharged, though Kakashi didn't seem to feel any pain. "Since you were so kind as to provide an obstacle course," Kakashi said, "reach me."

Moments later, Sasuke discovered that the shock, while only mildly painful, was enough to send him plunging into the warm water. Kakashi mask wrinkled as Sasuke swam away from the electric field and pulled himself onto the water's surface. "Again," was all he said.

An hour later, tired, sore, and soaked, Sasuke was back at the way-station, and he pointedly ignored Naruto's laugh as he went to go change before lunch. "I guess Sakura-chan wins," the blond said as they ate. "How'd you stop him from tossing you in the water?" Kakashi had gone off to talk with the Cloud jounin about something, while Kasumi and Hikaru ate their own lunch out of earshot.

Sakura froze in mid-bite. "It... wasn't like that," Sakura said.

"What did he have you doing?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sasuke would have had to be blind not to see that Sakura's answer was a lie. "Chakra control exercises."

Naruto didn't press, and a moment later Araimi distracted the other girl by engaging her in conversation about some inane plot twist in the book she was reading. Apparently the daimyo was really the daimyo's sister? Whatever. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and smirked when he saw a similar expression on Naruto's face. What kind of idiot wrote those books anyway?

Kakashi more or less left them to their own devices for the afternoon, and Sasuke was at least able to win a few quick spars against Naruto before the other boy dragged Sakura off to go study those medical scrolls. At least this time, Hikaru kept his distance. In fact, neither Cloud genin approached the Leaf for the rest of the day. Kakashi must have told Tetsu to tell his kids to stay away, Sasuke guessed.

The next morning, Kakashi had discarded his improvised cane and made them play hide-and-seek. Sasuke saw the point, of course, but couldn't he have at least called it something more... ninja? His ears were more than sharp enough to hear the amused bark of laughter from Kasumi when she overheard Kakashi's instructions.

Naruto won. Every round.

A few hours before noon, Eimi returned escorting a blue-haired woman wearing an armored jacket in a color that almost matched her hair. She wore a forehead protector like a choker; it took Sasuke a moment to recognize the four circles of the Hidden Frost. The woman introduced herself as Aoi, and announced that she was here to take over escorting Keikan's small caravan.

As Eimi left the Frost ninja's side to return to her team, Keikan introduced himself and exchanged some quiet words; she must have known whatever passwords had been arranged, because the merchant nodded to Kakashi, who relaxed visibly at the gesture. Sasuke did his best to ignore the overly emotional goodbyes between his teammates and Araimi, but the girl eventually made her way over to him. "What do you want?" he asked her. It wasn't like she liked him, after all. Thankfully, really, he got enough of that back home. It had been years since he'd gone this long without a request for a date.

"You really are grumpy," Araimi said, "but you saved us too. So thank you."

Sasuke grunted.

"Grumpy," Araimi observed with a smile, but then she went to her cart and hopped up onto it. "Ready, Papa."

Keikan turned again to Kakashi and the three Leaf genin. "I can't express my gratitude fully," he said, "but I usually visit your village at least once a year. If there is anything I can do to aid you..."

"That isn't necessary, Keikan-san," Kakashi said.

The man nodded. "Very well. Safe journeys to you all." A few minutes later, they were on their way. Sasuke watched them go, feeling strangely empty. This mission had been... more than any C-rank should have been. And now it had just... ended.

"Now what?" Naruto asked. "We go home?" There was still that, Sasuke supposed, before the mission was really over. They would make good time, not having to escort a pair of civilians. It would take less than a week.

"Not quite," Kakashi said. "Tetsu?"

Sasuke looked up, and saw the Cloud team approaching. "According to Eimi-kun," the metal-armed man said, "the Frost border teams have been overwhelmed dealing with refugees. No one's gone to Hot Springs." Sasuke blinked.

"No one was expecting anything like this," Kakashi said. "It's unprecedented in peacetime."

"Which is why the two of us," Tetsu said, "will be scouting out what's left of the village."

"What about us, Tetsu-sensei?" Hikaru asked.

Kakashi answered. "You six will come with us, but we'll leave you in a secure location on the outskirts of the village." His tone brooked no argument.

"The Hot Springs Village isn't far," Tetsu added. "We should be there by early this afternoon."

"Questions?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke felt like he had dozens, but none he wanted to air in front of the Cloud. At least those three looked similarly discomfited. Kakashi chuckled. "Team meetings?" he asked Tetsu. The other man nodded once, and with a gesture of his good arm ordered his team to follow him away.

"You three don't like this," Kakashi said bluntly once they were out of earshot.

"Of course not," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded. Sakura just looked a little sick.

"Good," Kakashi said. "You shouldn't. If accurate information on the state of the Hot Springs wasn't so important..." He trailed off.

"Why?" Sakura ventured.

"A sudden power vacuum could cause a war," Kakashi said. "Maybe even the Fourth Ninja World War."

Naruto swallowed loudly. "Do you trust Tetsu-san?" he asked.

"No," Kakashi said bluntly, but then his mask wrinkled. "I am a jounin. I can take care of myself."

"You haven't recovered fully," Naruto argued.

"Neither has Tetsu," Kakashi said. "We both have too much to lose to make it worthwhile to cause trouble." His eye flicked in the direction of the Cloud team.

"What if we run into trouble from... someone else?" Sasuke found himself asking when it was clear neither of his teammates would dare ask the obvious question.

"Hidan seemed to be operating alone," Kakashi said. "The worst we should encounter is paranoid survivors from the Hidden Hot Springs. That's where having someone with a Cloud forehead protector should help."

"Should," Sasuke said.

"Should," Kakashi agreed. 

"I don't understand," Naruto said, "how one person could destroy an entire village. I know Hot Springs was a small village, but they still had jounin, right?"

Kakashi sighed. "There are monsters in this world, Naruto-kun, that could kill most jounin out of hand," he said, and Sasuke clenched his fists, so tight he thought he would draw blood. "Hidan was just one of them." 

Sakura shuddered.

Kakashi's eye went to her, and his mask wrinkled in a clear smile. "None of you should encounter anyone like that again for a very long time, though." Sasuke didn't bother pointing out that he'd used the word 'should' again.

"On the bright side," Kakashi said lightly, "this is the first joint mission with the Cloud since the war. You three will be part of history." 

Somehow, Sasuke didn't feel very honored. Still, it was clear that neither Kakashi's own misgivings nor those of his students would change his plans, and shortly thereafter the eight ninja left the way-station. With no civilians to slow them down, they left the roads. The two teams traveled in their own groups, keeping a fair distance between them but staying in eyesight. Kakashi and Tetsu took the lead, only occasionally exchanging words.

They only stopped for a rapid lunch, but the jounin kept the pace fairly slow. Even Sakura, with her bound arm, could keep up without too much trouble. Still Tetsu's prediction proved accurate, and a few hours after noon they caught sight of the Hot Springs Village, perched on terraces atop a high cliff. A long, winding path was the only visible route up the cliff to the village, but other than that the only defense seemed to be a large ornamental arch at the top of the path.

There was no sign of life from the village. If eight foreign ninja traveling openly came so close to the gates of the Leaf Village, surely they would be intercepted. Kakashi and Tetsu conferred briefly while the band of ninja rested, then the two jounin led their students to what seemed to be a small hot springs resort nestled under the cliff. It was silent, clearly abandoned.

"This is where you'll be staying," Kakashi announced after the jounin briefly searched the premises. "Stay out of sight, don't wander, and be careful."

"You heard him," Tetsu told his own students. "We'll be back as soon as we can. You know what to do."

"Yes, sir." Eimi's voice was firm. "Kasumi, take watch in one of the upper windows."

"Got it," the other girl said.

Eimi glanced at Sakura. "You may want to have one of your team up there also, Sakura-san." 

Sasuke resisted the urge to snort. Why Naruto had decided to tell them Sakura was in charge, he didn't know, but there was no point in correcting the Cloud. If it made them underestimate the Leaf team, so much the better. "I'll go," he said.

"A... all right, Sasuke-kun."

"We'll be going then," Kakashi said. "We won't be long." There was a sudden wind, and the two jounin were gone.

"Let's get inside," Eimi suggested, and no one argued.

Sasuke followed Kasumi upstairs, and found a window that let him see the entrance while still being able to look over a balcony into the large front room where the others were staying.

Kasumi smirked at him. "Paranoid much, fancy eyes?" she asked, but Sasuke just snorted as she found a similarly advantageous position.

Time passed, slowly and without incident, despite the tension. No one traveled along the road to the Hot Springs village. Below, Naruto and Sakura sat down at a table and started studying again. This time, the Cloud medic joined them. Eimi paced about the room, looking nervous and glancing out the windows frequently. Sasuke couldn't blame the chuunin. This whole scenario stunk.

Though it felt like ages, they had only been there for an hour or two when it happened. Kasumi suddenly grabbed her hammer, pointing out the window with her other hand. "Do you see that, fancy eyes?" Sasuke turned to see what she meant, changing his eyes with a burst of chakra that was already second nature.

The road was empty. What -

There was a sudden, muffled, feminine scream. Sakura!

Sasuke whirled about to see Hikaru standing behind Sakura's chair, pulling her long hair back with one hand and pressing some kind of cloth to her face with the other. She struggled, but as Sasuke watched her green eyes closed and she slumped over.

Naruto stood frozen, half rising. Two senbon were embedded in the wooden table, on either side of one of his hands. "Don't move, Uzumaki-san," Eimi ordered, another pair of needles held in one hand.

"Fancy eyes," Kasumi said, and Sasuke reflexively turned to face her. She raised her hammer. "Make them black," she demanded, "or Hikaru might have to hurt little Sakura-chan."

Biting back ill-considered words, Sasuke complied for the moment. It was hardly any effort to activate the Sharingan again. What could he do? He couldn't reach Sakura before the medic could do something. Damn it... it was up to Naruto.

"What the hell are you doing?" the blond demanded loudly.

"I'm sorry," Eimi answered.

"It should be obvious," Hikaru finished for her. The boy's voice was tight, barely under control.

"I thought we were..." Naruto trailed off. "You bastards."

"It was not our decision," Eimi said. "Orders are orders." She hesitated. "I'm sure you understand." Naruto growled something impolite, and the chuunin kunoichi winced. "It is not the decision I would have made, but that does not change anything. Surrender, please."

Kasumi smirked at Sasuke. "That means you too, fancy eyes. It's kind of a shame we won't get to fight. It probably would have been fun." She gestured with her hammer. "On your knees. Hands where I can see them. You know the drill."

Sasuke slowly raised his empty hands. Damn it. Naruto would come up with something, right? As soon as Sakura was out of danger, he could act, but until then...

"Let Sakura-chan go," Naruto demanded. "Now."

"We can't do that, Uzumaki-san," Eimi said.

"You can't hurt her," Naruto insisted. Damn it, couldn't he see appealing to fake friendship wouldn't work?

"If you mean because she is one of our targets," Eimi said, "her rapid healing is hardly as unique as the abilities of the Uchiha or the Uzumaki."

"No," Naruto said, grinning like he did when he had managed a particularly clever trick. "You know about her regeneration? So you should understand that I meant what I said. You can not hurt her." He straightened, unhurriedly and apparently unconcerned. Sasuke fought not to let any expression show on his face. 

Hikaru wavered, glancing at Eimi for instruction, and in that moment of distraction Naruto acted. A chakra chain - since when could he make one that long, a part of Sasuke wondered - whipped out at Hikaru, snaring his wrist and yanking him over the table toward Naruto. The medic's body shielded him from any retaliation by Eimi as Naruto jumped up to meet him, fist slamming into the other boy's face. "You can't hurt Sakura-chan because I won't let you, trash!"

In that same instant, Sasuke launched himself at Kasumi. The girl raised her hammer, but Sasuke caught her hand with a powerful kick. She kept her grip, but with the weapon out of position, Sasuke got inside her guard, following up with a rapid sequence of blows to her stomach.

Kasumi staggered back, swearing. A wild blow of her hammer kept Sasuke from pressing the attack, and she regained her balance. The seals engraved on the weapon's head began to glow, and lightning danced around it. "My turn, fancy eyes."

Sasuke backpedaled, avoiding a rapid sequence of strikes. He drew a kunai and threw it in one smooth motion, but Kasumi batted it aside easily. She drew back her weapon in preparation for a throw. "Last chance to surrender."

Sasuke smiled grimly. They needed him alive, of course. Her pointless threat just gave him time to regain the offensive. Rolling flames erupted from his mouth, a globe of fire engulfing his foe. 

"Break!" At Kasumi's sharp cry, the fireball shattered, ribbons of flame streaming past her on either side. Her hammer, held before her with both hands, glowed so brightly that Sasuke instinctively raised a hand of his own to shield his eyes. An instant later, he lowered it, realizing that he felt no need.

"You trying to burn this whole place down around us, fancy eyes?" Kasumi asked, visibly wearied. The seal-light on her hammer faded. Behind her, the remnants of Sasuke's fireball had scorched the floors and walls. A small ornamental table smoldered, but nothing else seemed to have caught.

Sasuke didn't dignify her question with a response, drawing a kunai and attacking while she was still tired from however she'd blocked his Great Fireball Technique. He ducked under a slow hammer strike and came up -

A short kick to the back of his ankle staggered him. All Kasumi's weariness vanished, her hammer reversing direction in an instant. Sasuke barely had time to drop his kunai and form a single seal.

The smoking table Sasuke left behind shattered. Kasumi whirled about to face him as he rose from a crouch. "Replacement? That quickly? You're something else, fancy eyes." Did she ever intend to shut up? This wasn't a friendly spar.

Sasuke took advantage of the distance to risk looking over the balcony to see how Naruto was doing. He found the blond pinned behind an overturned table, guarding Sakura's still form while trading thrown weapons with Eimi. The Cloud medic was sitting in the far corner of the room, green chakra glowing on his hands as he tried to fix an injured leg. Not bad.

Sasuke glanced back at Kasumi, and didn't like the smirk he saw on her face one bit. The dark-skinned kunoichi raised her hammer, electricity flaring around it. Then, her smirk widening, she turned to the balcony.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried in warning as Kasumi threw her hammer. He saw his friend grab Sakura and jump backward. There was a deafening crack of thunder, and the table that had sheltered Sasuke's teammates shattered.

Sasuke didn't have time to watch what happened next, instead charging his weaponless foe. Kasumi dodged his first strike, but he spun around into a quick kick that caught her in the stomach. She almost flew backward, slamming into the balcony railing. Sasuke didn't let her recover, following up with a short uppercut that knocked her over the barrier.

Another table broke her fall, but she didn't rise, groaning loudly. Sasuke jumped over the railing and made a more controlled landing, beside Naruto. "Thanks for the warning," Naruto said shortly as he gently set Sakura down, his eyes not leaving Eimi.

Sasuke just grunted in response to that. "How is she?"

"Some sort of knockout drug," Naruto said. "Nothing harmful, I think." Sasuke grunted again. "Down!" Naruto shouted. 

Sasuke didn't ask questions, dropping prone next to Sakura. An instant later, Kasumi's hammer flew overhead. She rolled to her feet, snagging her weapon cleanly out of midair with one hand. "I'm tougher than that, fancy eyes," she snarled. Not far away from her, Eimi's hands filled with senbon.

"They're poisoned, I think," Naruto warned. Sasuke frowned. Even with his eyes, blocking every needle without the aid of cover would be hard.

Kasumi raised her hammer for another throw, but stopped at a gesture from Eimi. "Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san. You've both fought well, but you cannot win."

"Doesn't look that way to me," Naruto answered.

"Thus far," she said, "I've held back to avoid injuring you." Sasuke glanced at Naruto, wondering whether or not that was actually true. "Please surrender, and no one will need to be hurt."

Sasuke let Naruto answer. "Screw you. You're not fooling anyone."

An instant later, a senbon sprouted from the floor, less than an inch from Sakura's neck. "Are you certain?" Eimi asked. "That could have been Kasumi's hammer."

"I told you before," Naruto said. "You can't hurt her."

"That was more believable," Eimi said, "before I watched you try to protect her while we fought."

"She's target number three," Kasumi said. "We've already got a couple healing bloodlines, so we can sacrifice her to get yours." She raised her hammer again. Sasuke almost blinked. Did they think the Uzumaki had a bloodline? Why?

Naruto drew and threw a kunai in one smooth motion. It flew straight and true, embedding itself in the wall over Hikaru's head. "Boom," he said firmly. There was no explosive tag attached to the weapon, but the message was clear. Sasuke allowed himself a small smile when he saw Kasumi's hammer shake for a moment.

Eimi seemed no less disconcerted, the facade of cold competence broken for the moment. "Ah..."

"You're forgetting something, Uzumaki-san," Hikaru said, reaching up and pulling the kunai out of the wall. He threw it back, but Sasuke reacted without thought, intercepting it with one of his own kunai. Meanwhile, the medic stood on a shaky leg. "I'm not unconscious."

"Cover him!" Eimi snapped, and Kasumi charged. Hikaru started to hobble toward the closest door. Sasuke started to move to intercept, but a trio of thrown senbon from Eimi forced him to change direction. Naruto met Kasumi, but was having no luck getting past her hammer.

If Hikaru got out of the room, they'd have no counter for threats against Sakura. Sasuke's hands blurred through seals, and a moment later a field of electricity blocked the medic's path.

"My technique." Sasuke could feel Eimi's eyes on him, and he turned back to face her as Hikaru - probably painfully - rolled under a table for cover.

Kasumi laughed. "Remember we need his eyes intact, Eimi."

"The Sharingan is fearsome indeed," Eimi said, ignoring the other kunoichi. She formed seals of her own, the same ones Sasuke had just made. "Raiton: Dance of the Fireflies," she announced. 

Lightning sprung into existence, surrounding Sasuke. A bolt or two collided with him, the minor jolts causing brief pain but nothing more. Sasuke looked for Naruto, and found him outside of Eimi's technique, but Kasumi was driving him back against the edge of it. Naruto created a short length of chakra chain, using it to try to disarm his foe, but Sasuke could spare no more attention to watch the fight.

Eimi's technique would keep him from closing; his practice with Kakashi had taught him that charging through the floating bolts of electricity was painful enough to stop him. Slow down enough to slip through them, and the Cloud kunoichi would turn him into a pincushion. This was going to be a ranged fight. Sasuke reached for another kunai; he had two more left, and then he'd be down to shuriken.

Before he could throw, Eimi launched a storm of senbon, dozens of needles flying at Sasuke. Without his eyes, Sasuke was sure he would have been hit. Instead, he managed to block every one with his weapon, a good thing if Naruto's suspicion that the senbon were poisoned was accurate. He threw the kunai at Eimi, but the tall girl easily sidestepped.

"Fearsome indeed," Eimi said again, holding a single senbon. "You haven't had a chance to copy this one," she added, and then she formed a sequence of seals Sasuke didn't recognize. "Raiton: Firefly's Sting." Then, bizarrely, she tossed the senbon away, not in Sasuke's direction, before forming and holding another seal. What was she -

The senbon hit one of the electric bolts surrounding Sasuke, and with a loud crack both the needle and the bolt vanished. Some instinct made him throw himself aside, ignoring the pain as he collided with more floating bolts. The senbon came from behind, passing through where Sasuke's neck had been, electricity crackling around it. As though drawn to the weapon, another electric spark intercepted the senbon, and both vanished in a second thunderous sound.

The senbon emerged from another bolt, flying straight for Sasuke. He managed to dodge again, and a moment later the sound of thunder came from behind, and the senbon came out of a bolt near his feet. The technique was simple to understand. Even with his eyes, he couldn't track the weapon. The electric field made dodging difficult. He had to force Eimi to break the seal she still held and end the technique. One hand closed around the hilt of his last kunai, while the other groped for an explosive tag.

The senbon flew by again, missing him by inches. The electricity around the metal needle was growing denser; the weapon flew faster with every pass. He was almost out of time. Wrapping the explosive tag around the hilt, Sasuke threw his weapon, straight at Eimi.

She sidestepped, the weapon flying past her. "That won't -"

Sasuke's hands locked into the final seal of a sequence he'd never before performed, his chakra instinctively moving in unfamiliar patterns he'd only seen once. He smiled grimly as his weapon entered his own lightning field, the one he'd used to block Hikaru's path. He'd only get one chance. His kunai emerged traveling in the opposite direction, pointing at Eimi's feet.

The explosive tag detonated the instant it emerged. The blast at least impacted Hikaru, sending the table he hid under flying and knocking him into a wall. Eimi, though, was well out of range. "So you don't learn all the limitations of the techniques you copy," she observed, and then her senbon hit Sasuke in the back.

A scream tore from Sasuke throat as all the electricity the needle had absorbed discharged into him. He fell to the floor, limbs twitching helplessly. He barely felt three more senbon hit, two in his right arm and one in his left. Cold, almost pleasing, numbness flooded through him. He couldn't move, couldn't mold his chakra, and his vision reverted to normal. Paralyzing poison.

The electricity that surrounded him vanished. His fixed field of vision let him see Hikaru groaning and rubbing his head where he'd hit it, but not Naruto's fight against the two kunoichi. It was infuriating. He could hear the fight, knew that Naruto would lose, and he couldn't even move. He was helpless, almost as helpless as... damn it, why was he so fucking weak? If some random chuunin could so easily defeat him, how would he ever -

Naruto came into view, barely holding off Kasumi's hammer with a chakra chain. Senbon stuck out of his clothing, but either none had fully penetrated or Eimi had run out of poisoned weapons. Behind him, Sasuke heard a soft moan. Sakura was waking? 

"Sasuke-kun?" He couldn't answer Sakura's quiet question, couldn't even give any sign that he'd heard. With extreme effort, he managed to twitch a finger, and for a moment he dared to hope that the poison would run its course soon enough for him to rejoin the battle before Naruto fell. With Sakura also awake, they could -

With a loud crack, Naruto's chakra chain shattered as Kasumi's hammer glowed with a painfully bright light. It hit home, and Sasuke could have sworn he heard bones break as it slammed into Naruto's chest. The blond collapsed, electricity dancing around him, and he didn't rise.

"And stay down, you annoying -"

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura's panicked cry interrupted Kasumi and finally attracted Eimi and hers attention.

"Don't move, Sakura-san," Eimi instructed. "Your teammates are defeated."

"How the hell is she even awake?" Kasumi demanded, raising her hammer. "Hikaru said -"

"You... you hurt... Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun..." Sasuke almost couldn't recognize Sakura's voice, the words snarled in a low, almost inhuman-sounding growl.

"Don't move!" Eimi repeated.

A blur of red passed over Sasuke, tackling Eimi. Since when was Sakura so fast? The two kunoichi rolled around for a moment, then Eimi managed to kick Sakura off. She rolled away, and Sasuke saw blood running down her face. Kasumi moved to stand over her teammate as Sakura rose into a crouch, the arm she'd injured ripped free of its binding and apparently fully healed.

Growling wordlessly, Sakura charged. "You know," Kasumi said lightly as she danced out of the way out of a wild series of kunai slashes, "when we first met, I never figured you for the berserker-type, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke struggled to rise, managing to raise one leg an inch, but not more. Damn it!

With a roar, Sakura tried to close with Kasumi again. Before she could, the dark-skinned girl threw her hammer. Thunder echoed through the building as it struck home, sending Sakura flying through the thin rear wall of the room. There was a loud splash, then the hammer came flying back out of the hole in the wall. Kasumi caught it with one hand. "Berserkers are easy, though," she gloated.

Sasuke managed to get to one knee. "None of that," Eimi told him, drawing near and forming seals. She touched him, and lightning encircled him. The binding technique she'd used on Hidan, from Naruto's story. Sasuke held himself still. He hurt, all over. Trying to break through the lightning would probably just knock him out.

"Are you okay, Hikaru?" Eimi asked.

The medic was standing, hobbling over to his teammates. "Broken leg," he said. "And I lost my glasses somewhere."

"Make sure Uzumaki-san is stable," Eimi ordered, "then signal Tetsu-sensei. Kasumi, get Sakura-san, and be -"

"Careful, I know," the other girl finished as she headed for the broken wall. "I saw her against that Hidan guy too. I'll make sure she's really out before I try to fish her out of the hot springs."

Then the chuunin's attention returned to Sasuke. "I'm sure you don't believe it, but I'm truly sorry about this," she told him as she pulled a coil of wire out of an equipment pouch. She shook her head. "But you proved in our fight that Tetsu-sensei was right. The Sharingan is too valuable a prize for us to pass on."

Sasuke didn't answer her, though he thought he could have spoke if he wanted. Eimi wiped blood away from her eyes - Sakura had managed a shallow cut on her forehead - then started to bind Sasuke's hands and legs with the wire, the lightning of her technique moving to accommodate her.

"I'm sorry," she said again, awkwardly, as she finished and released her technique. Over by an open window, Hikaru released a flare into the sky. "Our teachers will be here soon," Eimi said, and then she picked up a kunai and placed it against Sasuke's neck.

* * *

_When the prisoner awoke and asked for water, it was the green-eyed man who not long ago had briefly been his captive who approached the tightly bound boy and offered a drink from a canteen. The prisoner, still dressed in his feminine pink kimono, didn't hesitate to accept the meager kindness. If the Leaf ninja wished him poisoned, they had no need of trickery._

_"My chakra?" the boy asked once he was done drinking._

_"Suppressed for now," the man confirmed. "We aren't stupid."_

_"No," the boy agreed, shaking his head as though to clear it. "The medic's work, I assume." In the distance, the mentioned ninja looked up, and the sunlight that filtered through the thick tree cover briefly made his glasses shine with reflected glare as he smiled. Then he returned to his work, checking the still-healing wounds of the pair of dogs injured by the missing ninja Zabuza in the battle of several days past._

_The green-eyed man didn't answer that question, instead saying, "I feel I owe you this chance, Haku-kun. Tell us what we need to know, and we won't have to kill you."_

_The boy smiled mirthlessly. "Since I made the same offer to you, Haruno-san? I won't betray Zabuza-sama's location any more than you betrayed where you've hidden your clients." He glanced about, perhaps searching for the bridge-builder and his family, but no surprise showed on his face when they proved to be absent from the small, hidden campsite. "Since you seem to be missing your commander and her healthy dog," he said, "I assume they are with Tazuna-san. Most likely they are within earshot, or at least your sensor's range. Am I correct?" The young ninja smiled again._

_Seated next to the medic, a dark-haired kunoichi opened her mouth, but at a quiet, "Tsubaki-san," from the silver-haired boy, the woman stopped before she might have said something to regret._

_Haruno Takeru matched the boy's smile. "You're not stupid, either," he said, "so you understand that we can't afford to let you live if you remain our enemy. We don't have the resources to restrain a prisoner as dangerous as yourself for long."_

_"A weapon does not fear death, Haruno-san," Haku answered._

_Takeru sighed. "I expected as much." He was silent for a moment, then spoke again. "We checked our bingo book. You've escaped notice so far. There are no bounties that we know of for you. No crimes against the Fire Country or the Leaf Village that you need answer for._

_"If you were not our enemy, we would have no reason to hold you once this matter was resolved. If you proved to be an ally..." He didn't continue, but the implied offer - one a mere genin would have no authority to make explicitly - was still clear enough. There were missing ninja who would have happily betrayed their closest comrades for even that slim potential of being allowed to join a village such as the Leaf._

_"I'm afraid that has no appeal for me," Haku said. "All I desire is to serve Zabuza-sama."_

_"Do you want to die, kid?" Takeru asked harshly. "For him? He's certainly in our bingo books. You're delusional if you think a man like the Demon of the Hidden Mist returns your loyalty."_

_"I am well aware of who Zabuza-sama is, Haruno-san," Haku said. He shifted. "You will not convince me to betray him like that."_

_The kunoichi stood, walking over to stand beside Takeru. One of her hands rested on the hilt of her short wakizashi. "That's that, then," she said. "Do you want me to do it?"_

_Haku turned to her. "Can I have the name of the one who would kill me so lightly?"_

_The woman snorted. "No."_

_Haku glanced back to Takeru. "Well, Haruno-san?"_

_The man sighed. "I don't see how a man like him could have won such loyalty from you."_

_It took a moment before Haku answered. "I'm sure you know the attitude of my country to those with bloodline limits, such as my own ability to control ice." He paused, perhaps for a response, but neither Takeru nor the kunoichi gave him one. "Zabuza-sama found me, took me in, and gave me a reason to live, when before I was alone and without a purpose. I repay him as best I can by being his tool."_

_"What happened to your parents?"_

_Haku blinked at the unexpected question from Takeru. "My mother hid our abilities," he answered quietly. "When my father discovered them..." The boy trailed off, for an instant seeming younger than his age. "She died."_

_"He killed her," Takeru said, his voice tight._

_"Yes," Haku said. "And then my father tried to kill me."_

_Takeru almost shook. "Then he doesn't deserve to be called a father," he snapped, and Haku blinked at the vehemence._

_The kunoichi at Takeru's side laid a hand on his shoulder. "Takeru, he's not -"_

_"I know he's not her, Tsubaki," Takeru snapped. "Just give me a moment." He stalked off._

_"What -" Haku began._

_In one smooth motion, Tsubaki drew her sword and placed it at the boy's neck. "If you made up that story to try to manipulate him, I will make your death long and painful. I promise."_

_"I don't understand," Haku said._

_"Maybe not," Tsubaki said after a moment, and she sheathed her blade._

_"Tsubaki-san," the medic said from his seated position by the dogs. "Should one of us -"_

_"He hasn't gone far, Kabuto-kun," she answered. "He'll be back in a moment."_

_Indeed it was less than a minute before Takeru returned, but he ignored his comrades to crouch down in front of the prisoner. "Kid," he said roughly, "I don't want to have to kill you. Help me by helping yourself. Tell us where Zabuza is hiding."_

_Haku shrugged. "If I fight only for myself, what am I?" he said._

_Takeru grunted. "The Sage of the Six Paths," he said, identifying the legendary source of the quotation. "Zabuza must have given you a good education, at least."_

_"Yes," Haku said._

_Takeru shook his head and stood. "He also said, 'If I do not fight for myself, who will?'"_

_Haku smiled sadly, and finished the famous set of questions. "And if not now, when?"_

_Then the boy stood, the ropes that had bound him falling to the side, neatly slit by a tiny blade of ice. A gust of wind swirled leaves around him, and he vanished, only to reappear at the edge of the campsite. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said, "though I am afraid I must repay it poorly."_

_Tsubaki drew her sword. "How -" One of the dogs howled._

_Haku looked at Kabuto and answered. "The basic chakra suppression technique isn't useful against a medic who knows the counter. You should have known better, if you're as talented as you've shown."_

_Kabuto stood. "I didn't know you were a medic. I won't make the same mistake again."_

_"You can't hope to escape," Tsubaki warned. "Hana-taichou will be here in a moment, and I can track you wherever -"_

_Takeru interrupted her, swearing. "No, don't you understand? If he's a medic, then -"_

_A low chuckle filled the air. A bundle of something flew at Haku, who caught it with one hand. He slipped the mask of a Mist hunter ninja over his face, incongruous against the pink kimono he wore, and calmly began to secrete the weapons on his person._

_Zabuza emerged into the campsite out of a patch of shadow, easily carrying his massive blade with the arm that Kabuto had crippled with a lucky blow. With it, he gestured at Takeru and Tsubaki. "Deal with those two, Haku," he said. "I'll take care of the medic myself."_

_"Of course, Zabuza-sama," Haku said, bowing slightly, and then he formed seals. "Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors."_

* * *

Sakura awoke lying face up in a puddle of warm water and staring at a cloudless, crimson sky that glowed with a uniform light. She stood, and realized that she was not where she had been moments before, in the abandoned hot springs resort fighting Eimi and Kasumi. Instead, she stood in a vast, ruined city. Fires burned in places, but they were still, frozen in a timeless instant. Sakura could hear no sound of anything alive.

She looked around and her eyes found the mountain that loomed over the destroyed city, and she realized where she stood. Terror seized her, and her stomach heaved. How was she here? What had happened? What had she done?

Staring down at her with grim disapproval, the stone faces of the first three Hokages told her that this was the Leaf Village. Where the Fourth Hokage should have been, the mountain was marred, a massive scar running down its side like the Fourth's visage had been gouged out by a massive claw. Acid rose in her throat, and she swallowed painfully, trying to stop from vomiting.

If this was the Leaf Village, then she knew where she was with painful exactness. The ruin before her was the academy. She turned and she fled through the empty streets, seeking the hidden, abandoned building Mizuki had shown her on the day she became a genin. It was the only shelter she could imagine; she did not want to see what had become of her home.

She did not find the refuge she sought. Instead, a large hill rose from the center of the patch of woods. At its summit stood a silent temple, with no windows that Sakura could see. Around the hill, the trees were stunted and withered, half-dead mockeries of their former selves. Driven by some perverse impulse, she couldn't stop herself from climbing the steep stairs that ascended the hill to reach the temple.

At the top, she found that the path led to the temple's one gate, a pair of wooden doors. Painted across them in red was a familiar spiral pattern. Her stomach started to burn with the same sigil. The gate was ajar, just enough that Sakura could slip through. Something drew her inside, a call that she could not resist, and trembling in fear, she let it pull her through the gate.

It opened into an inner courtyard; there seemed to be no access to the inside of the temple building proper. There had been a garden here, once, but neglect and drought had killed it. Dead plants crunched under Sakura's feet as unthinking steps brought her closer to what she found in the center of the courtyard.

It was a massive tree, large enough that she should have seen it peeking over the temple structure from outside. Though it was as dead as everything else in this place, Sakura knew with absolute certainty that it was a cherry blossom tree, her namesake. Hanging from a low branch was a metal cage, and seated inside the cage, legs dangling over the edge through the bars and facing away from Sakura, was a girl.

The girl wore a red dress, a mirror of Sakura's own clothing, though in a darker shade. Her hair was pink as well, long enough that Sakura thought it would reach her feet if she stood, and tangled as though it had never known a brush or a comb. Unwillingly, Sakura took another step forward, and the sound of dry leaves crumbling under her weight seemed like an explosive tag going off.

The caged girl slowly found her feet, and turned to look at Sakura. Both the hands with which she clutched the bars of her prison and her bare feet were clawed, but it was her face that Sakura stared at, unable to tear her gaze away.

Crimson, inhuman eyes glared at Sakura out of her own face, marred by three marks on either cheek. Their number and position reminded Sakura of the whisker-like markings on Naruto's face, but they were nothing like those pale, scar-like things. These were thick and dark, giving the girl the feral look of a wild animal.

Sakura opened her mouth, but she couldn't find the words to speak. Her heart beat rapidly, feeling like it might burst at any moment. The spiral around her navel was a line of fire, hot enough that she almost thought her dress might burn. She couldn't look away, no matter how much she wished she could.

"Hello, me," the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox said with Sakura's voice, and she smiled, revealing a mouth of sharp fangs. "I was wondering when we'd finally have a chance to chat."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I've been waiting to end a chapter on that line since I started writing this story.
> 
> 2) Did I say last chapter was too long? This one was about 4000 words longer. The original plan for this story was for chapters to be about 4000 words long, total. I knew that wasn't going to happen when the first chapter blew past that allotment, but I'd still hoped to keep things a little saner than this.
> 
> 3) This chapter's meaningless bonus points go to anyone who recognizes whose words I'm mangling and putting in the Sage's mouth during Haku and Takeru's conversation.
> 
> 4) As always, my thanks to everyone who commented on the drafts of the chapter on The Fanfiction Forum, Space Battles, and the FFML.
> 
> Draft Started: July 24, 2012  
> Draft Finished: September 08, 2012  
> Draft Released: September 09, 2012  
> Final Released: September 15, 2012


	8. Chapter Eight: The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

* * *

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not actually me. The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who apparently actually is me. The subjective experience existing only in your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless you are me, in which case... oh, forget it.

* * *

"Hello, me," the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox said with Sakura's voice, and she smiled, revealing a mouth of sharp fangs. "I was wondering when we'd finally have a chance to chat."

"No." The word forced itself from Sakura's lips. Her burning stomach churned, and she shook with dry heaves. "No. No. No," she moaned between convulsions.

The demon's crimson, inhuman eyes narrowed. "This cannot be a surprise. We've been straining against this damned seal for months."

It was too much, all her fears placed before her, the monster she knew had to be buried inside her, personified in this twisted mockery of her own form. Or was she the twisted mockery of it? Sakura sank to her knees, dead plants crumbling under her weight. "No," she moaned again. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the cage that hung from the massive, dead cherry blossom tree in the center of the courtyard.

"Pathetic," the girl imprisoned within said, one clawed hand tightening around the bars of her cage. "Stand!"

Shaking legs complied, Sakura rising unwillingly. "You're... you're the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox," she said in a shaking voice.

The girl smiled again, sharp teeth seeming to glow oddly in the strange light cast by the uniform crimson sky overhead. "Are we?" she asked mockingly.

"We," Sakura said, swallowing on a suddenly painfully dry throat. She didn't want to hear what would come next.

"I am the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox," the demon girl said cheerfully, her copy of Sakura's voice light. "And I am you."

"I'm..." Sakura couldn't finish.

The other Sakura's crimson eyes stared into her. "Say it."

"I'm... I'm... the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox." It hurt, almost ripping from her throat. It wasn't the first time she'd said the words, ones she'd said the moment she realized what she was on the day she became a genin. Yet, to say them here in this place, in this ruined garden in this temple at the heart of this frozen ruin of the Leaf Village, felt different.

"Yes." The caged girl almost hissed the word, satisfaction clear in her voice. It echoed, bouncing off the windowless temple walls and somehow becoming a deep rumbling. Though Sakura felt no breeze, the dead tree briefly shook as though in a stiff wind, setting the cage hanging from its branches to swaying gently.

Sakura felt... empty. She should have felt something, but inside she felt dead. She'd been told, over and over, that this wasn't so, but as much as she wanted to believe it, she never could, not deep down. Now, she knew she'd been right to disbelieve. "Why?" she asked quietly. Her cheeks were wet, and she blinked watery eyes. "Why am I you? Where are we?"

The other Sakura smiled again. "We are within the so-called Fourth Hokage's seal, that keeps us apart." Her expression hardened, and her red eyes bored into Sakura's green. "As for why... remember!"

_Sakura roared in pleasure, her tails whipping through the air behind her, heedless of the destruction they caused. Freedom, at last. For generations of their pathetic lives, these so-called ninja had enslaved her, but in this latest attempt by one to wrest control of her for himself, she had slipped their grasp. Never would she bound again. She would see this village destroyed._

_All around her, humans swarmed, making futile attacks. The weakest perished from the mere presence of her chakra, crimson arcing through the air, poisoning and burning. The strongest fell beneath her claws, perished with a sweep of her tails. They were as nothing. She was the greatest of the Tailed Beasts, the true firstborn of the -_

_The massive stone faces the loomed over the village caught her gaze, and a snarl emerged from her throat. It was hard to pick, but she chose her most recent hatred and turned her head toward the visage of the Fourth Hokage. They would all pay. She would knock that man's face from the mountain and bury the village in the rubble. She roared again, and this time destruction poured from her throat._

_Moments before impact, the dense orb of chakra vanished. Sakura's eyes widened, and instants later there was an enormous sound. Blinding light flared as her attack detonated... on the other side of the mountain. Anything on that side was obliterated in an instant, but the village was shielded from the blast by the mountain's bulk. Even the stone Hokages were left untouched._

_Something slammed into her while she was distracted, and she swiveled her head to meet the giant toad. She snapped at it, rending the sweet flesh of its leg, but still it shoved her back, through the massive walls that had thus far failed to protect the village. The toad started to draw its sword, but she pinned its hand with one claw while she struck with another, gouging a bloody trail toward one eye._

_Then she saw the man who stood on the toad's head, seemingly undisturbed by the shaking of the titans' battle. Her eyes narrowed in hatred, rage building inside her. She spoke. "Fourth Hokage." She would save his corpse, to present to that woman before she killed her and their spawn._

_The blond man vanished, reappearing almost at Sakura's eye level atop the village walls. "You've done enough, Gamabunta. Go. You can't fight one of the Tailed Beasts." He cradled something protectively in his arms, hidden by his white and red cloak._

_"But, Minato..." the toad rumbled._

_"Go," the man repeated, and in a gargantuan cloud of smoke the toad was gone._

_"Die," Sakura hissed, and she brought her claw down on the man. He flicked away before impact, reappearing on another section of wall._

_"I won't let you do this here, Nine-Tails," the blond man informed her, and then in another flicker, both he and the village were gone._

_Sakura roared in frustration, unthinkingly striking out all around. She was miles away, far enough that she could barely see the flame and smoke rising from the village at the heart of the forest. They had bought themselves mere minutes, she consoled herself. She tensed, preparing to leap._

_There was another flicker, and the Fourth Hokage stood before her. "We meant this to trap the masked Uchiha," he said, "but it will serve well enough for you."_

_Sakura snarled. "What -" For the first time, she took in where the cursed man's technique had placed her. A stone building, damaged warding seals inscribed on the walls, stood by one of her paws. She traced the lines of power emanating from it, and -_

_Before she could act, eight giant stone pillars rose from the earth, surrounding her, the blond man, and the stone building. Seals caught light on their sides, the colors of all five elements glowing brightly. "Barrier," the man announced, "Activate."_

_"Fool," Sakura said, tasting triumph. "You've trapped yourself."_

_"I will not survive," the Fourth Hokage said. "I've made my peace with that. But... I won't let you harm a single person more."_

_"I will kill you, tear down this barrier, and raze your precious village to its foundations," Sakura promised._

_Someone started crying, a human girl's wail of fear. "Hush," the Fourth Hokage said, and the bundle in his arms shifted, revealing a head of pink hair. "Hush. It will all be over soon, Sakura-chan."_

_Sudden fear and redoubled anger waged war inside Sakura. "I will not be bound again!" she screamed, striking with all her might at the man and the child he carried. "You will all die!"_

_In a flash, the man vanished, and Sakura felt a weight on her back. "You," she started to say and then, impossibly, the man struck a powerful blow, something pinning her to the ground and paralyzing her. Channeling the barrier's power with another seal? She struggled, but it would take time to free herself, time she no longer had. Inside her, fear won._

_The man reappeared in front of her. "As I said," he stated calmly. "I will not let you harm a single person more."_

_"You cannot bind me," Sakura said. "You are no..."_

_"I cannot match the First," the man agreed, "or his wife. But I can handle half of you at a time." He held the girl in one hand, the other forming seals._

_"No," Sakura said. "You... I won't..."_

_"You will be bound. Seal!"_

_It was painful, like nothing Sakura had ever experienced. She was rent in two, diminished beyond imagining. She roared her pain and fear to an uncaring sky. Her shrunken stature freed her from the Fourth's technique, but she couldn't move, limbs and tails twitching uncontrollably. "You dare. You will suffer until the end of time itself, Fourth Hokage."_

_"I know," the man answered calmly. "Your kind is far too dangerous to be allowed to run free, Nine-Tails," he said, "and I fear my village and the world will need your power in the years to come." The girl in his hands started to cry again._

_"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," the man said quietly to the girl. "I cannot atone for what I am doing to you. But I know... I hope... Naruto... and Kushina will be there for you._

_"Seal!"_

_And darkness consumed Sakura._

Sakura shook as the vision left her, tears of pain and fear flowing freely down her cheeks. "That was... that was..."

"The day," the other Sakura said, "we were bound into this form by the cursed Fourth Hokage." Both of her fists clenched the bars of her cage tightly, and it shook.

"And we were... split in two?" Sakura asked. "You and... me?"

"When this seal is removed," the demon girl stated, "we will be one."

Sakura swallowed. "How?"

"Touch the bars," her other self said. "Will them to open. The seal cannot long withstand attack from that side in this place."

On shaking legs, Sakura approached, drawn closer by a powerful pull that she couldn't resist even if she had the will. Still, she hesitated, hovering out of the other girl's reach. "What... what will happen to me?"

"We will be one," the girl promised. "You will be the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox reborn."

_"Listen to me," Mizuki pleaded. "You are Haruno Sakura. You were born on the twenty-eight of March, and I held you in my arms on that day. You are the daughter of Haruno Takeru and Amaya. You are my most wonderful student. You are not the demon, and never will be."_

Sakura's head pounded, and she took a step back. "But I'm..."

"I am you," the demon girl hissed. "We will be one." She shook her cage. "Do not hesitate! Free us! We will have our vengeance! We will tear down the Hidden Village of the Leaf -"

"But... Naruto-kun... Sasuke-kun... they're..."

"Lies!"

_"Shut the fuck up!" Naruto roared, a burst of energy propelling him to his feet. "And run! This is our choice! You're our teammate, aren't you? What the hell does it make us if we just let you get killed?"_

_"I'm not worth -"_

_"He said to shut up," Sasuke growled._

"Lies?" Sakura asked. "No, they risked death -"

"In a game," the demon girl insisted. "There is no one in that village who cares for us. You know this!"

Unthinkingly, uncontrollably, Sakura's hand rose, reaching for the cage.

_Sakura blew on the hot chocolate to cool it, then took a more cautious sip. Her father chuckled. "Your mother always did the same thing," he said softly, "even after years and years." Sakura stared at the top of her drink. It was not the first time her father had said that. Her father shook his head. "You really are so much like her," he commented wistfully._

Sakura's arm lowered. "My father," she said. "I love him and he loves me."

"Because he believes we are his daughter," the caged girl stated. "Only for that. You know what you really are."

"If... if I'm... the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox," Sakura said slowly. "Why would I be... like my mother?"

The other girl snarled. "You know the truth!" she shouted. "If you aren't the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, why do they hate you?"

Sakura shook. "They -"

"We feel their gazes, every day! You cannot have forgotten in these mere weeks away from that forsaken village."

"No," Sakura whispered.

"In every eye," the demon girl proclaimed, "we know the hatred. They blame us, for the destruction we caused. They know that the pain they suffered twelve years ago is our fault. Free us, and we will visit it on them again ten-fold."

Sakura's shaking hand rose again.

_"Nothing is your fault, do you understand?" Uzumaki Kushina whispered into Sakura's ear. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."_

Sakura hesitated, inches away from the bars of the cage that held the other girl.

"You worthless little..." the girl snarled. "Cease your pointless wavering and free us!"

"But... I never wanted... vengeance..." Sakura whispered.

The other girl growled. "If you free me," she promised, "we will have the power to save your friends."

Sakura's hand shook. "No," she breathed. She lowered her hand and took a step back, then another. "No. I won't free you. And I will not be one with you."

Crimson eyes widened. "What?"

It actually took Sakura another moment to realize the reason. "You said 'your' friends." She was shaking, but she knew she was right. "If... if I were really you, they would be your friends also." She took a deep breath. "I... I am not you. I am not the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

The girl threw back her head and roared in rage, a scream that seemed to come from all around. The temple shook, almost throwing Sakura to the ground. When she was done, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox glared at Sakura. "Damn you," she snarled. "When I am free -"

"I will never free you," Sakura insisted.

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox took several breaths, and then she smiled. "Without my power," the demon girl hissed, "how do you intend to save your friends?"

Sakura swallowed. "I can -"

"You can what, you weak little girl?" the Nine-Tails asked. "What do you think you are, without me? Who do you think gave you the power to stand against Hidan, to save the merchant bitch from Noboru? Whose rage did you think filled your trembling limbs with strength? Whose will did you think withstood the killing intent that drove your precious friends to their knees? Not yours, dead last. Mine!"

Sakura clenched her fists tightly. "If I free you, you'll just kill them. You'll destroy the village." She felt her forehead protector's weight. "I can't let you do that. No matter what."

The demon growled. "Fine. Even without that, I can grant you my power, my chakra. More than enough to save your friends."

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"It is what this seal is designed for, you foolish girl," the Nine-Tails said. "It is why you ninja have always enslaved me. It is the reason your Hokage protects you, so that you will become his loyal weapon."

"Why would you help me?"

The girl made a frustrated noise. "Because you'll just get us killed without my help!" she yelled.

Sakura blinked. "If I die -"

"What do you think, you stupid girl?" the demon said.

Sakura tried to think it through, but her head was spinning and her thoughts scattered. "It will weaken the seal," she guessed.

"The seal is designed to weaken," the Nine-Tails said. "It has been weakening since the day it was created."

"I can't -"

"So," the Nine-Tails said. "We've found something you won't do to protect your precious people."

Sakura winced.

"That's one of your rules, isn't it?" The demon smiled again. "That you will always protect the ones who are precious to you."

It was. "You'll just kill them," Sakura said again.

"Only if you kill them for me," the other girl countered. "My power will be yours to control."

"How can I trust you?"

Red eyes glared at Sakura. "You stupid girl," the Nine-Tails growled. "What do you think the Cloud will do to your friends?"

Visions danced through Sakura's head. It was horrible to consider. She'd read in histories of the things that had been done to steal bloodlines. If the Nine-Tails was lying to her, at least Naruto and Sasuke would only die. In the Cloud's hands...

Sakura took a deep breath. "What... what do I do?"

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox stretched her hand out through the bars of her cage. "Take my hand."

Shaking, Sakura grasped the clawed copy of her hand with its mirror. "Now, what?"

As if in answer, the dead cherry blossom tree from which the demon's cage hung was suddenly in full bloom. Blood-red petals fell all around Sakura, glowing softly with a crimson light that blinded her. She shut her eyes, and...

...and they opened on a blue sky. Sakura lay in a pool of hot water, and looming over her was -

"You're awake?" the Cloud kunoichi Kasumi asked, raising her hammer. "Don't move, or -"

A growl rose in Sakura throat, and in one smooth motion she leapt at the other girl, clawed hands reaching for her throat.

* * *

Tenrai Kasumi jumped backward as Sakura attacked, easily escaped her reach and landing on solid ground at the edge of the hot spring. Were those claws on her hands? "I said not to move!" Kasumi yelled at the Leaf kunoichi.

Sakura just growled, bending over almost on all fours. Kasumi swallowed, realizing that the pink-haired girl's eyes were no longer green. Instead red, inhuman eyes blazed at her. As Kasumi watched, dark marks spread across Sakura's cheeks. A heavy sense of pressure filled the air, a terrible, black rage that made Kasumi want to shake in terror.

Instead she laughed nervously, raising her hammer in a defensive position. "Um... nice crazy berserker Sakura-chan?" she offered.

Sakura roared, and chakra flared around her, crimson power boiling off of her skin. It thickened, whipping about in shapes that suggested tails before dissolving back into a shapeless, flickering red aura. What the hell was Haruno Sakura?

The pink-haired girl raised one arm, and Kasumi barely had time to breathe, "Oh shit," before Sakura brought it down, sending a wave of near-boiling water at Kasumi and knocking her back through the wall behind her into the resort's main room.

* * *

_"What do you think?" the green-eyed man asked his comrade as the two Leaf genin stood back-to-back in the center of a dome of ice mirrors. The masked image of the boy Haku, incongruously still wearing his pink kimono, seemed to be in every mirror at once as he moved between them, too fast for the eye to follow._

_Wincing, the kunoichi pulled a senbon out from her upper arm. "We're screwed, Takeru. I can barely sense him moving from mirror to mirror; he's too damn fast. He can kill us whenever he wants."_

_Takeru frowned, though his teammate couldn't see it. "So why hasn't he?" he murmured softly, his lips barely moving. Idly, Haku tossed another senbon; Takeru managed to knock it aside with his kunai. With his other hand, he unrolled a storage scroll a fraction, brushing against the seal to remove another kunai, with a prepared explosive tag dangling from the hilt. "Cover me, Tsubaki."_

_"On it." Her hands blurred through seals, summoning a pair of water replications. The clones drew their short swords and charged the mirrors. Instants later, pierced by three senbon each, they collapsed into falling water._

_Takeru's explosive kunai flew through on dissolving replication. A senbon came out of another mirror, piercing the explosive tag. There were sparks and smoke, but no detonation, and the kunai bounced harmlessly off of its target._

_On the other side of the ice dome, Tsubaki had advanced in the shadow of the other water replication. She formed a rapid set of seals, then thrust one hand into the falling water. "Suiton: Water Lance!"_

_The water formed into a spear that jetted through the air, only to splash harmlessly against one of the mirrors. Tsubaki staggered backward, six senbon sprouting from her limbs. "Damn," she cursed, as she retreated to stand back-to-back with Takeru again. "He's too damned fast," she said again. She pulled out a senbon. "Tried to catch him between mirrors, and he was gone and coming at me from behind before I could react." Another senbon fell to the ground as she removed it. "At least he's avoiding our vital points," she finished quietly, as though she didn't want to give their opponent any ideas._

_"Why?" Takeru asked, more loudly. "Why are you toying with us?"_

_Haku spoke for the first time since he'd enclosed the pair in his technique. "Zabuza-sama desires your medic's death," he stated calmly. "But once he has done that and completed our mission, there will be no more reason for us to fight. I have no desire to kill either of you."_

_"Generous of you," Tsubaki said sourly._

_"It is," the boy agreed. "In return, I would hope that you would indulge my curiosity._

_"Who did my story remind you of, Haruno-san?"_

_"That's none of your business, boy," Takeru answered._

_Tsubaki frowned. "Shit, Takeru. Which part of 'he can kill us whenever he wants' did you not understand?_

_"You reminded him of his daughter," she told the boy. Behind her back, hidden from their opponent, she lightly touched her comrade with one hand, trying to pass a silent message._

_Guessing the meaning - keep him talking and distracted - the man grimaced and spoke, "Sakura."_

_"Haruno Sakura," the boy said. "It's a good name."_

_"Her mother picked it," was all Takeru said to that._

_"I wonder how her tale could be like mine," Haku stated. "Your country does not share the same prejudices as my own."_

_"We're not idiots, you mean," Tsubaki said._

_"I won't disagree," Haku said, "but I may be biased." He paused. "And I am not nearly distracted enough for my technique to fall so trivially."_

_One ice mirror vanished briefly, just long enough to admit a whirling tornado of fang and claw. The newcomer came to a halt in a crouch beside Takeru and Tsubaki, revealing the form of Inuzuka Hana. The woman snarled at Haku._

_"Shall we continue our conversation, Haruno-san?" Haku asked calmly. "Or would you prefer us to resume the battle?"_

* * *

Rage was not burning in Sakura. Her gut was not churning with barely contained wrath. She did not feel suppressed anger in the back of her mind. All of those words she had used to describe to herself what it was like when she felt the Nine-Tails stir no longer applied to her.

Sakura was burning rage. Her wrath blazed around her, crimson chakra boiling off into air in a display that should have driven her to exhaustion in mere moments. She did not suppress the anger; she welcomed it. She knew that this was not the fury of the Nine-Tails, that it did not belong to demon girl who wore her face. This was her, Haruno Sakura.

She still froze for what could have been a fatal instant when she caught her reflection in the settling water of the hot spring. She was almost a mirror of the image the Nine-Tails had worn: dark whisker marks on her face leading to red, inhuman eyes. Her clawed hands twitched, and she forced the unsettling image aside. Naruto and Sasuke were worth it.

Sakura breathed deeply, and the crimson chakra faded from sight, but the power did not leave her. In one powerful leap, she followed Kasumi through the hole in the wall, back to the room where the others waited. She landed a handful of paces from the dark-skinned girl, who scrambled to her feet, hammer coming alight. "Stay back, you... whatever the hell you are!" she shouted.

In a heartbeat, Sakura closed with her. The hammer strike seemed impossibly slow, like a patient teacher demonstrating the move. With an ease alien to her usual poor taijutsu, Sakura simply flowed around it. Her claws ripped at Kasumi's shoulder, tearing chunks of flesh. Her other hand raked at the other kunoichi's face, drawing bloody trails. Kasumi's hammer fell from nerveless fingers as she doubled over, clutching her mauled shoulder with her other hand.

Sakura spun into a kick before her opponent could even hope to recover. To her own mild surprise, her foot struck with enough force to send the dark-skinned girl flying again. Kasumi screamed once as she hit the far wall, and Sakura tensed to follow and finish her off.

"Don't move, Sakura-san."

At Eimi's voice, Sakura stopped, turning to face the chuunin kunoichi, near the center of the room. She froze as she saw Eimi's kunai at Sasuke's neck. She took a reflexive step back, and then she froze for entirely different reason.

Sasuke's dark eyes - the ones she could have stared into for hours if there was any chance the boy would let her - were open, open and staring directly at her, widening slightly. Relief and fear warred in her. Sasuke was alive and aware. Sasuke was seeing her, seeing this monstrous thing she'd become to save him and Naruto.

Eimi mistook the reason for her hesitation. "Good. Now, whatever technique you're using, end it," she ordered. "Or..." she trailed off, moving her kunai suggestively.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw the medic Hikaru crawling along the wall to his fallen teammate, but she couldn't look away from Sasuke and Eimi. She shook from combined fear and anger, clawed hands clenching almost tight enough to draw blood.

"Now, Sakura-san," Eimi pressed. Her weapon lightly caressed her prisoner's throat, leaving a crimson line.

Sakura barely realized she was moving until she had closed the distance. Eimi's eyes seemed to widen in slow motion, the tall kunoichi almost throwing herself away from Sakura's charge. A single furious punch sent her skidding across the wooden floor, safely away from Sasuke.

"Saku -" the boy started, but Sakura was already on the move again, jumping at Eimi. The Cloud kunoichi had just enough time to form the seal for the Replacement Technique, and Sakura shattered the wooden seat she left behind with a single blow.

Eimi reappeared near the stairway that lead to the balcony overlooking the room, forming seals. Sakura charged. Tiny, floating bolts of lightning surrounded Sakura, blocking her path toward the Cloud chuunin. Sakura ignored them, not slowing in the slightest as countless small electrical shocks jolted her. The pain was gone almost before she felt it.

Eimi almost froze as Sakura kept coming, fumbling for a kunai that she barely had time to raise in a defensive posture before Sakura closed with her. Despite her hesitation, the warding swipe of the blade was well-timed and sure. It should have been enough to force Sakura to keep her distance.

Instead, Sakura dove under a slow-seeming strike, tackling Eimi by the legs. The chuunin fell underneath her, and Sakura's claws drew long furrows across her white armored jacket. They didn't draw blood, and Sakura snarled in frustration. Eimi half-rose, trying to throw off Sakura. An elbow to the back of her knee made her fall again. Sakura forced herself up so she was directly on top of the other girl, staring eye-to-eye.

Eimi's kunai stabbed at Sakura's gut. Sakura caught the blade with her open hand and wrenched it out of the other girl's grasp, tossing it aside. The bloody gash across her palm hurt, but it was already closing. Eimi, panic clear in her expression, raised her hands, lightning dancing between them. The powerful shock made Sakura's whole body spasm, but she recovered before Eimi could get free. Sakura punched her in the face, and felt the other girl's nose crack.

"Eimi!" Hikaru called out from behind Sakura. She glanced back to see the medic hobbling toward them on a broken leg, too slow to make any difference.

"What are you?" Eimi asked Sakura weakly. She tried to knee Sakura in the chest, but Sakura half-rolled aside, raking her claws across Eimi's armor again. The chuunin took advantage of Sakura's movement to try to wriggle out from underneath her.

Before she could escape, Sakura grabbed at Eimi, catching her while she was still rising. She slammed Eimi's head into the wooden floor, and the other girl lay still for a moment, clearly dazed. Instinctively, a snarl in her throat, Sakura's claws went for the other girl's neck.

"Eimi!" Hikaru shouted again. He threw a kunai at Sakura, high enough that it wouldn't hit his teammate. It was too easy to lean aside at the right moment, reach out to snag it by the hilt as it almost seemed to hang in mid-air and and use it to stab one of Eimi's hands.

"Get off Eimi!" Sakura looked up at the yell and found Kasumi standing by a table, her wounded shoulder bandaged. "Let her go!" the dark-skinned girl demanded, her hammer half-raised in her other hand, clearly afraid to risk hurting Eimi if she threw it. 

Sakura's grip tightened on Eimi's throat, and the other girl fought for breath, her uninjured hand futilely trying to pry Sakura's fingers loose. Sakura felt herself smile as she looked at Kasumi.

The Cloud girl kicked the table she stood beside away, revealing Naruto's still form. For a heartbreaking instant, Sakura thought he was already dead, but she then saw his chest rise and fall weakly.

Kasumi raised her hammer, lightning dancing around it. "Let Eimi go or I finish what I started."

Sakura stood, throwing Eimi away to collide with Hikaru. A wordless yell escaped her throat, and she bent down almost on all fours before charging with a strange, loping gait. Kasumi waited until she was only paces away. Then bright light flared around the dark-skinned girl's hammer as she hurled it at Sakura. 

Sakura stopped dead, throwing up her hands to protect herself. There was a crack like thunder, and Kasumi's hammer knocked Sakura away and up, her arms erupting into shattering pain like nothing she'd felt. She landed on her feet and staggered backward a few steps, before falling to one knee.

"And stay down," Kasumi said tiredly as she stood, her glowing hammer flying back to her hand. Sakura's hands clawed weakly at the wooden floor, and Kasumi grinned. Her hammer started glowing again. "This is for hurting Eimi, Sakura-chan," she stated calmly, and then she brought the hammer down on Naruto's arm.

There was a loud cracking sound, and Naruto's until now unmoving from spasmed wildly as electricity discharged into him. "That should prove we're serious, Sakura-chan," Kasumi said, satisfaction clear in her voice. "Surrender now or he gets worse."

"N-naruto." The quiet, weak voice was Sasuke's, but she couldn't turn to look at him. Naruto's body kept twitching, and she couldn't hear him breathing.

She could hear a low, inhuman growl. It took her a moment to realize it was hers. Her lips curled back, baring her teeth as she stared at Kasumi. The dark-skinned girl hefted her hammer. "Just try me."

It was like a dam breaking inside of Sakura. The rage that suffused her boiled over, and she literally saw red as chakra flared around her again. Sakura roared, and it was like a physical thing, knocking Kasumi back a step. Her arms twitched, almost convulsing, and when she moved them again there was no pain. She stood and her legs did not shake.

"Can't you learn?" Kasumi asked, and she threw her hammer again.

Sakura was ready for it this time, and she batted it aside with one arm. The shock of the impact sent jarring waves of pain down her arm, but they faded as soon as they came. Before Sakura even realized she was moving, she was on the other girl, beating the weapon to its wielder. Lengthening claws ripped through Kasumi's red dress, drawing blood. One hand twisted, carving through her one leg. Kasumi didn't panic, catching her weapon in an outstretched arm and using a quick blow to force Sakura away.

Sakura caught the second strike in one hand, ignoring the weak pain of the electric shock and the cracking of her bones. Kasumi grunted, her hammer's glow brightening. "Idiot berserker. With my hammer, there's nothing in this world I can't -"

With a sudden burst of strength, Sakura ripped the head from the hammer's haft. Kasumi froze, gaping at her as Sakura tossed the broken weapon half aside. She casually backhanded the girl, slamming her hard into an exterior wall, but Sakura didn't let up.

Red chakra blazing around her, Sakura fell on the other girl. Kasumi screamed as Sakura's chakra thickened, starting to burn her, but Sakura didn't care. All she could see was what her prey had done to Naruto. She growled her fury and determination to see her enemy pay as she struck. Kasumi tried to block the next blow with her uninjured arm, and Sakura grabbed on with both hands and broke it with a trivial effort. Kasumi screamed again, more loudly, and Sakura just laughed.

"Don't hurt her!" someone shouted. Sakura kept Kasumi pinned to the wall with one hand and half-turned, ready to drop Kasumi and pounce.

"Stop, please," Hikaru said weakly, holding a kunai in a shaking hand, but only in a defensive posture. He limped a few steps closer.

It was impossible to see him as a threat. It was a bizarre, utterly alien feeling, but it was true. The medic, already injured, couldn't hope to win. Somehow, Sakura found the will to take a deep, shuddering breath. It still took a moment for her to find human speech. "You... can't fight me," Sakura said, and her voice sounded like someone else, deep and threatening.

Hikaru took a step closer. "Let me help my teammate," he said calmly. He didn't lower his weapon.

It took an effort of will not to jump at him, but Sakura fought back the urge to attack. The red chakra around her started to thin and fade. "Why... should I?" she asked, as she looked over the medic's shoulder. Eimi was slumped over in a seated position near the stairs. Sasuke was still bound in the center of the room, but his eyes had turned their own shade of red. The sight raised strange feelings in Sakura, but it was the final person she looked for. Naruto lay still, but his chest still rose and fell. 

"Naruto," she growled unthinkingly at the reminder of the reason for her rage. Threat or not, Hikaru was just as responsible as his teammates. His next, cautious step closer provoked an instinctive response, Sakura's claw swiping at air to drive him back.

Instead Hikaru stopped favoring his broken leg, darting at Sakura in a burst of speed. The tip of his kunai ripped a line of fire across her stomach, and Sakura doubled over, dropping Kasumi. The redhead slumped to ground and didn't rise. The shallow, rapidly healing wound hurt more than it should have. Poison.

Hikaru stabbed at her again, but only to make her keep her distance as he bent down to pick up his fallen teammate. Kasumi stirred weakly. "Hi -" she began.

Sakura's chakra blazed into full strength, anger burning away the poison's pain. The medic had used his concern for his teammate to lull her into dropping her guard. Now he was trying to get away with Kasumi, the one who had hurt Naruto, the one who had to pay. She screamed in rage, and enjoyed the look of fear in the boy's eyes as she attacked, shoving him away from Kasumi. Mindless fury filling her, Sakura went for the fallen kunoichi, who barely had the presence of mind to curl into a ball to try to shield herself.

Hikaru jumped at her, wrapping both arms around her and trying to force her to the ground. His weight staggered Sakura, and they both fell. Sakura bit at him, sharp fangs finding flesh and filling her mouth with the taste of blood. Her claws tore great gashes across the medic's chest as she wrestled to the top. Her thick, dense chakra surrounded them, burning, and he screamed. Long seconds passed in a blur as Sakura spent her rage, striking again and again, no longer knowing or caring that it was Kasumi's defender and not Kasumi herself that lay beneath her.

"Stop!" Eimi's yell distracted Sakura, making her look away from Hikaru. Fear pierced the rage that clouded her mind. The tall kunoichi stood unsteadily next to Sasuke, a kunai in her hands. Sakura had forgotten that the other girl was only dazed. Sakura let Hikaru fall to the floor as she rose. Her chakra thinned again, a pale aura that flickered around her instead of the dense cloak that had burned Hikaru.

"Please just stop," Eimi pleaded as she knelt beside Sasuke. "Please." She raised her weapon, and Sakura took a step forward. "It's over," Eimi said. Sakura growled, preparing to attack before she could hurt Sasuke.

Eimi cut the wires that bound her captive. Sasuke instantly shoved her aside and tried to rise, but he collapsed to his knees next to her instead. "What?" Sakura asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"It's over," Eimi said again. "I... I can't beat you. Kasumi and Hikaru are..." she trailed off. "You win, Sakura-san."

"You... surrender?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," Eimi said quickly. "Please. We never wanted to do this. Even Kasumi argued with Tetsu-sensei about it, but we had to follow orders. Please. Don't hurt my teammates any more."

"Your village would have done worse to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun," Sakura snapped.

"Yes," Eimi said softly, looking down. "I know. I should have... I don't know. Maybe I should have warned -"

"I'd advise you not to finish that sentence, Eimi-kun," a new voice said from the main doorway.

Eimi paled. "Tetsu-sensei."

Sakura looked up. The Cloud jounin's face was expressionless. His metal arm pointed straight at Sakura. This was the man who was truly responsible. For the first time, Sakura deliberately tried to raise the fury of the Nine-Tails, and it eagerly complied. Red chakra thickened again in an instant, almost becoming a shroud to cover her whole body as she stepped away from the fallen Cloud genin and toward their teacher.

Seals on the man's metal arm began to glow. "I'll have to finish this quickly," he said. "Hatake will be here soon, and we need hostages before then. Stay out of my way, Eimi-kun, and keep the Uchiha secure. We'll talk about the rest later."

"Yes, sir," the chuunin said weakly, but Sakura couldn't waste any attention on her, because in the same instant a bolt of lightning shot from the jounin's arm at her and the battle was joined.

* * *

_Two figures in the armor and masks of Mist hunter ninja stood atop neighboring trees in the light forest near the home of Tazuna the bridge builder. Coils of fog shrouded the forest floor, obscuring the battles raging beneath the pair. The sounds of clashing metal, grunts of effort, and growls of anger that rose up to them seemed soft and faded, muffled by the thick, gray carpet._

_One the two watching ninja, a girl with long, dark red hair, had her hands clasped in a hand seal. "This Yakushi fucker's damn good," she said, "or the luckiest dumb-ass the Leaf ever crapped out. I can't believe he's not already dead."_

_"I can," the other, a man with pale white hair, replied. "I am not certain I could defeat Kabuto-sama without using my seal, if he had time to prepare."_

_"Seriously?" the girl asked. "Fuck."_

_"What of the chuunin?" the man asked._

_"The dog bitches have spread out," she replied. "Momochi's water replications are keeping them busy. They're running all over the place; I can't keep track."_

_"Try harder," the man advised. "I would hate to have to find a new fifth."_

_The girl muttered something under her breath._

_"Tayuya," the man said, warning clear in his voice._

_"Yes, sir," the redhead mumbled, and her hands twitched slightly. There was a slight rippling in the air, then another, as two unseen objects descended into the mist. A few minutes later, she spoke again. "One of the dogs is down," she said. "Might be dead."_

_The man said nothing._

_"I've got another pair. The last..." Tayuya trailed off. "The Yuki kid just let the last into his fucking barrier." Perhaps she grinned behind her mask. "I've got eyes inside the dome now."_

_"And?"_

_"Yuki hasn't managed to kill either genin. Some kind of gutless loser, I guess. Can't see what kind of fucking use someone like that would be to Orochimaru-sama."_

_"That is not our concern," the man said coldly. "Orochimaru-sama gave us a mission; we will complete it."_

_"This would be fucking easier if we could just kill everyone."_

_"We have our mission," the man said._

_"I fucking know, all right? Retrieve the Yuki kid alive and Momochi dead, no casualties from the fucking Leaf genin, and pin the blame for killing Momochi on the Leaf."_

_"Then stop whining about it," the man said._

_It was several seconds before Tayuya spoke again. "The dog woman in the dome gave the genin orders. Looks like they are going to try to break out."_

_"How?"_

_"I can only see, not hear," Tayuya answered. "The man's unrolling some kind of sealing scroll, the dog woman and the water user are covering him."_

_"Let's move, then," the man said. "When they make their attempt, I will bring down the dome. I am relying on you to keep my action unobserved. Do not fail me, Tayuya."_

_The girl broke the seal her hands held. A flute fell into one hand, while the other flipped up her mask to reveal a face that might have been pretty if it wasn't marred by a scowl. "Yuki won't be an issue. The only problem is that sensor bitch. It's a pain in the ass to slip something past a sensor."_

_"Then I advise you to be very good."_

_Dark lines crawled across Tayuya's face. She let out a short laugh. "When it comes to genjutsu, I'm the fucking best, damn it, and don't you forget it, Kimimaro."_

_There was a gust of wind, and the man was on the ground. Tayuya followed him, leaving the trees empty once more._

* * *

"I'm sorry," Ogushi Eimi told Sasuke as she knelt on top of him, pressing his face to the ground gently with her good hand. The other, the one Sakura had stabbed with Hikaru's kunai, the medic had bandaged as best he could with strips torn from her uniform trousers. With treatment, he'd said she'd suffer no permanent damage, but now Hikaru -

The Uchiha stirred underneath her, trying to escape. Weakened by Eimi's paralyzing poison, the effort was futile. Part of Eimi wanted to let him go, but it was too late for that. She couldn't disobey a direct order from her teacher, her commander. Her team's only hope was victory, besides, she told herself. Their teacher might be a valuable prize, but she and her teammates had no bloodlines or special abilities to convince Sharingan Kakashi that they were worth the effort of dragging back to the Leaf Village as prisoners.

Her teacher unleashed the lightning gathered in his metal arm, the burst of thunder shattering the closest windows. Eimi blinked several times to recover from the blinding flash, but she knew before she could see that Sakura hadn't been hit. The pressure of that terrible, evil-feeling chakra hadn't even wavered. It wasn't like focused killing intent Hidan had used to paralyze her. It was wild, uncontrolled, and that made it hard to judge, but Eimi was certain it was more powerful than the man who had destroyed the Hot Springs village. Just what was the pink-haired girl?

"I don't know," Sasuke muttered, and Eimi realized she had asked the question aloud. Even Sakura's teammate didn't know? Her throat dry, Eimi swallowed painfully.

Sakura reappeared at the top of the stairs, crouched down on all fours and surrounded by a flickering crimson aura. Tetsu turned to face her, and the girl roared. The jounin actually stumbled back a step, and Eimi, farther back, felt a momentary, stiff breeze. She swallowed again.

Her teacher aimed his arm at Sakura again, seals glowing yellow along the metal. As if in answer, Sakura raised one clawed hand. Her red chakra thickened around it.

"That chakra," Tetsu muttered. "What are you?"

His only answer was a red blur of motion. Tetsu left a lightning replication behind to meet Sakura's attack. The burst of electricity when the replication disrupted only momentarily disoriented the girl; in less than an instant she followed the jounin in another bounding leap. It was almost as bad as the two jounin's battle against Hidan. Even now that she wasn't the target, Eimi could only barely follow Sakura's movement.

Tetsu met the girl in mid-air. There was an exchange of blows Eimi couldn't see, and Sakura slammed into the ground, floorboards cracking under the force of the collision. Tetsu landed on his feet, not far away. Eimi paled as she saw blood spreading from underneath his suddenly cracked armor. The wound he'd received from Hidan had reopened.

Sakura growled, rising to all fours. Red chakra twisted around her, the pressure of that malign aura growing. Eimi's stomach lurched. Seemingly unconcerned, Tetsu pressed his hands together briefly, and as they separated an electric arc glowed between them. As it brightened, Eimi raised a hand to shield her eyes.

There was a thunderous boom, then a loud crash. Eimi lowered her arm, in time to catch a storm of lightning and crimson crashing through a wall into a side room. Sasuke stirred again, and Eimi reflexively pushed him back down to the floor.

A gloved hand rested on her shoulder. "I would appreciate it, Ogushi-san, if you would release my student."

Eimi turned her head, raising it to meet Hatake Kakashi's mismatched eyes. One hand groped for a weapon, but she already knew it was pointless. She couldn't get a blade to the Uchiha's throat before Hatake could kill her.

She couldn't feel bad about that, though, as she almost rolled off of the boy. Her limbs suddenly trembling and weak, she collapsed to the ground. There wasn't anything she could do, not anymore. Beside her, Sasuke managed to rise to his knees, but when he tried to stand, he couldn't.

"Kakashi-sensei," he said weakly, "Sakura..."

"I know," the Leaf jounin said. "Just rest, Sasuke-kun. I'll take care of the rest." He glanced at Eimi. "I will accept your surrender, Ogushi-san."

"Yes," Eimi said quickly. It was easier, this second time. She should have backed off as soon as Sakura revealed her strange power. Maybe then Kasumi and Hikaru would be... she couldn't bear to look, to see if they lived. "Please," she said, but she couldn't find the words to finish the plea. What could she even beg for?

Before Hatake could answer, another crack of thunder heralded Sakura flying back through the hole in the wall she and Tetsu had just made. She crashed into the opposite wall. Seals Eimi hadn't even noticed her teacher placing began to glow, bands of lightning tightly binding Sakura to the wall.

"Got you, you little monster," Tetsu growled as he walked back into the room, his flesh hand locked into a one-handed seal.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Tetsu," Hatake said, and Eimi's teacher froze for just an instant. "I thought you were smarter than this."

"Don't try anything, Hatake," Tetsu said, turning to face him. "I've got your girl pinned, and you can't defend the Uchiha or Uzumaki and fight me at the same time."

"I don't have to," the Leaf jounin said coldly. He took a step forward, then he prodded Eimi with his foot. "Revenge isn't worth getting your students killed, Tetsu."

Tetsu laughed once. "I guess I'm just worse than trash."

The odd phrasing clearly meant something to Hatake, who stepped over Eimi. "I thought better of you on that front too, Tetsu." Out of the corner of her eye, Eimi saw Sakura struggling against her bonds with renewed vigor. Hatake drew a kunai.

"Stand down, Hatake," Tetsu ordered. "Or Uzumaki dies."

Hatake sighed once, tossing his weapon aside. He crossed his arms. "It's over," he said.

Tetsu walked toward his opponent. "Close the eye," he ordered.

Eimi could have warned her teacher. From her position, she had seen the second kunai hidden in the first's shadow clearly, but her mouth stayed still as the weapon pierced one of the seals binding Sakura. That was enough, and with a loud roar Sakura broke free, electricity dancing around her for a moment before dissipating.

A blink of an eye later, she was on Tetsu. With the Cloud jounin already injured and his attention divided between the girl and her watching teacher, it was over quickly. After a missed strike, Sakura grabbed Tetsu's over-extended metal arm, ignoring the lightning running down it and into her. With a loud grunt of effort, she ripped it in two, breaking it at the elbow and tossing the lower half aside. Electricity flowed out of damaged seals, flowing back into Tetsu's flesh. A punch shattered his broken breastplate, sending the jounin stumbling back and collapsing to the ground.

He didn't rise.

In an instant, Hatake stood in between him and Sakura. "That's enough, Sakura-chan," he said gently.

The pink-haired girl stood still for several moments, red flickering. "No," she finally uttered. "Because... because of him, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun..."

"I know," Hatake said. "I'm sorry about this, Sakura-chan." Then he pressed something against Sakura's stomach. There was a flash of green light. The crimson aura surrounding Sakura wavered, then with shocking suddenness vanished. The dark lines on Sakura's face faded, and green eyes stared in shock at her teacher.

"Kakashi...sensei?" she said, her voice soft and hesitant again.

"It's all right, Sakura-chan," the silver-haired man answered. "It's over. Naruto and Sasuke will be fine. I promise." Sakura's eyes closed, and she collapsed. Hatake caught her, carefully cradling her in his arms as he turned to Eimi. "Now, Ogushi-san," he said.

Eimi managed to stand, somehow. She kept her hands away from anywhere she could keep a weapon. "I won't resist," she said. It would be worse than futile. "The poison I gave Uchiha-san should wear off fully in an hour or so." She risked a glance at Kasumi and Hikaru. Kasumi was awake, but the other girl seemed to be out of it, barely conscious. Hikaru lay still. Eimi unthinkingly took a step toward him.

"One question," Hatake said, making her freeze, "before I let you tend your comrades." Without waiting, he walked over to where Naruto lay, setting Sakura down gently before kneeling over his fallen student.

"Yes, sir?" Eimi asked weakly.

"Who ordered this ambush?" Kakashi said seriously. "Was it on Tetsu's initiative, or on orders from your village?"

Eimi swallowed once. "I... I think it was Tetsu-sensei," she said honestly. "There... there could have been something hidden in the messages I brought from the border, but -"

"Good enough," Hatake said. He paused briefly, placing one hand against the ground. In a puff of smoke, a small, brown dog with one eye appeared. "She will carry a message to the Frost border for you, Ogushi-san. I believe with Hikaru-san's supplies and luck you should be capable of stabilizing your teammates until medical assistance can arrive."

Eimi blinked. "What?"

Sasuke managed to find his own feet. "What?" he echoed, much more angrily. "You can't just -"

"Sasuke-kun," Hatake cut him off. "That's enough. It's over. Come help with me Naruto."

"But -"

"We'll discuss the reasons later, Sasuke-kun."

"You're just going to let us go?" Eimi asked weakly. The dog wandered over to her.

Hatake looked up at her. As though he'd only just realized it was still up, he slowly raised one hand to lower his forehead protector over his Sharingan eye. "Not just," he said. "I'll be taking Hidan's corpse, for one."

Eimi wasn't going to argue about that. "Tetsu-sensei was carrying the scroll."

"I know," Hatake said. "Now, write your message and see to your teammates."

Eimi looked down to see the summoned dog had walked up to her, and now was sitting at her feet, waiting. After a moment, she searched her pouch for a pen and paper, and got to work.

* * *

"Damn it, you idiot," Sasuke muttered to himself as he bound Naruto's arm in a sling. Mandatory first aid training let him guess at the extent of the damage: broken ribs, the broken arm, electrical burns, probably a concussion... "Idiot. What the hell kind of use are you as a medic if you're the one who gets hurt?"

Naruto didn't answer, of course. Kakashi didn't say anything in reply either, not looking up from Naruto, his hands pressed over the boy's chest. Sasuke didn't know what the jounin was doing, but the unconscious blond's breath seemed to come more easily now. "That should hold Naruto-kun for now," Kakashi said after several moments. "He'll be fine once we get him to the hospital."

Sasuke grunted irritably as he finished his own work. 

Kakashi sighed. "Later, Sasuke-kun. Let me check Sakura first, and then we'll be ready to go." The jounin's attention turned to the girl laid out next to Naruto. 

She looked like she was just asleep, Sasuke thought. The dark lines that had marked her face were gone like they had never been. Her hands looked normal, human. There was no sign of any injury. "What was that?" he asked softly.

"Later, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said again as he stood. Sasuke almost growled. Was he supposed to be satisfied with that? Kakashi ignored him, instead calling out, "Ogushi-san."

Sasuke did growl at that, watching his teacher walk over to the Cloud team. The chuunin was kneeling over their fallen medic, spreading some kind of ointment across a badly burnt chest. The other kunoichi was in better shape, awake and sitting nearby. Her teammate had already bandaged her many wounds and immobilized her own broken arm - the left, same as she'd inflicted on Naruto. Sasuke's eyes changed without effort as he caught Kasumi's gaze, and the dark-skinned girl froze, barely breathing.

Sasuke clenched his fists. He wanted to hurt her. What Sakura had - unbelievably - done to her wasn't enough. She'd hurt Naruto in cold blood, when he was already beaten, when Kasumi had probably thought Sakura already beaten. Why was Kakashi letting them get away so easily?

Eimi, shaking slightly, rose. Her cheeks looked damp. Good. "H-hatake-sama," she stammered.

"Will he live?" Kakashi asked. Damn it, why did he care? The Cloud deserved whatever happened to him.

"I... I don't know."

"Let me see."

Sasuke jumped to his feet at his teacher's words. "How can you help them after -"

"Sasuke-kun," Kakashi cut him off, turning his head to meet Sasuke's red eyes. "Not now." He paused, then added. "Find Tetsu's arm and the pieces of Tenrai-san's hammer." His eye flicked back to Eimi. "We'll be taking those also, Ogushi-san."

Kasumi seemed to almost protest, but said nothing. All Eimi said was, "Yes, sir."

"Please retrieve the scroll containing Hidan's corpse while I help your teammate," Kakashi said. Eimi nodded once, turning to where her own teacher lay next to Hikaru and searching through the fallen jounin's pouches.

Shaking with barely contained rage, Sasuke obeyed. He found the metal forearm easily enough, and the haft of Kasumi's hammer was on the floor next to her. He took a bit of pleasure in 'accidentally' jarring the girl's broken arm as he bent down to pick it up.

"...guess I deserve that, fancy eyes," the girl said weakly.

"Yes," was all Sasuke said to that.

"Hikaru didn't," she said, glancing at the medic.

"Fuck that," Sasuke said. "He was as much a part of this as you."

"Fuck you, fancy eyes," Kasumi returned. "Like you wouldn't have done the same as us if your teacher had ordered it."

Sasuke just stood and left her. It took him a while to find the hammer head, buried in the pieces of a broken table. When he was done, Kakashi had apparently finished with Hikaru, and three of him stood by Naruto and Sakura. Those physical replications? One of them handed Sasuke a storage scroll, and after a moment's work Sasuke had sealed away the spoils.

As he took the scroll back, Kakashi said quietly. "You should relax your eyes, Sasuke-kun." With an effort of will, Sasuke obeyed. One of the other Kakashi bent down and picked up Sakura. The other carefully lifted Naruto. The final - maybe the real - Kakashi turned around and knelt down. "On my back, Sasuke-kun."

"No," Sasuke answered without thinking. He wasn't some child.

"In an hour at most," Kakashi observed, "all this will catch up with you, and you're going to collapse. Trust me." He glanced over his shoulder, and his mask wrinkled. "I'll be going too fast, beside. We'll be over the border by midnight, and in the village before the end of tomorrow."

It was unbelievable speed, but Kakashi was a jounin. Sasuke forced himself to climb onto his teacher's back. Kakashi stood. "Well then," the one carrying Sakura said lightly. "I would say it has been a pleasure, Ogushi-san, but that would be a lie."

"Yes, sir," the chuunin kunoichi said. "Sir... Hatake-sama... thank you. For... for my teammates' lives."

"And your own," Kakashi added.

"Yes, sir."

Kakashi just nodded, and then the world blurred. Moments later, they were moving rapidly through the treetops, back toward the main road leading south to the Fire Country. The sun was just beginning to set, and its light wasn't enough to ward off the chill of the wind.

"You have questions," Kakashi said, some minutes later.

"Why did you let them go?" Sasuke demanded. "They -"

"I know what they did," Kakashi said, "In my condition, I can barely make two replications so I can carry you three. Taking them prisoner wasn't an option. They were just following orders and weren't a threat any longer."

"But -"

"I lost the taste for murdering children in cold blood long ago, Sasuke-kun."

"The jounin, then," Sasuke said sourly. He hadn't been following orders.

"Ogushi-san said she thinks he acted on his own, and I believe she's right," Kakashi said. "Sending him back with them tells the Cloud that I believe that."

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Why do I believe that?" Kakashi said. "Because there was no time for him to report the situation and get orders, and because I know Tetsu, or at least of him. You remember the story I told you in the baths, about cutting a lightning bolt in half?"

"Yes."

"It was his lightning bolt," Kakashi said, "and my technique was why he had that arm. He quoted my own philosophy at me." Kakashi sighed. "That proves that he obsessed over me. I can believe that he jumped at a chance for revenge easily enough."

"You should have killed him," Sasuke stated.

Kakashi sighed again. "That would have served nothing but my own need to see him pay, Sasuke-kun."

Something black churned in Sasuke. "So?" he demanded. Tetsu deserved to die, for what he'd done.

"Sending him back to the Cloud," Kakashi said, "means that he'll be punished. The Fourth Raikage is relatively new to the seat; he can't afford to look weak. What form that punishment takes, whether it is a slap on the wrist or whether his head is delivered to Hokage-sama, will tell us a lot about how the Raikage sees the Leaf and how strong he is as a leader.

"Either way, that information is more valuable than the tiny pleasure of getting to kill him myself."

They traveled in silence for some distance, and when they paused in a grove of tree overlooking the road, Sasuke spoke again. "Sakura," he said, his throat dry. "What -"

"You of all people should know, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi answered, "about the power of bloodline limits."

Sasuke could have believed that something like a regeneration ability might have escaped notice, but the power Sakura had shown? "The Haruno family doesn't have a bloodline limit," he said. With that kind of power, they would have been one of the Leaf's noble clans. "I would have known."

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked. "Maybe it comes from her mother."

Naruto had suggested the same. It was still ridiculous. A clan with that kind of bloodline wouldn't let their daughters marry out. "And which clan is she from, then?" Besides, he'd never heard of any bloodline in the Leaf Village that matched Sakura's power.

Kakashi sighed. "Sasuke-kun, some bloodlines are kept as secrets." That wasn't an answer. "Enough, Sasuke-kun. You need to rest." Sasuke wanted to protest, but his teacher wasn't lying. He was tired, and despite it all he fell asleep in moments after closing his eyes. He woke a couple times, briefly, on the journey, but Kakashi was in no mood to talk. Each time, Sasuke found himself slipping back into sleep quickly, never quite fully waking.

The next time he really woke was when Kakashi told him to get off, in the lobby of the Leaf Village's hospital. He blinked his eyes wearily, sleep still clouding his thoughts. There was frantic activity all around, medics taking Naruto and Sakura and putting them on mobile cots. A tired looking male nurse grabbed Sasuke's arm, pulling him away from Kakashi. "This way, Uchiha-san."

Naruto and Sakura were being carried away, already passing through the double doors leading into the hospital proper. Two of the three Kakashi - including the one who had carried Sasuke - vanished in clouds of smoke. The last let a pair of medics help him into another cot, and without a word they started pushing him off also.

"Wha-" Sasuke started to say.

"This way, Uchiha-san," the nurse said again. "Hatake-sama and Uzumaki-kun will be fine."

Sasuke let himself be taken to an examining room, where the nurse soon proclaimed him to be in apparent good health. His relatively few wounds were cleaned and bandaged, and blood-work taken - to identify the paralyzing poison if any traces remained, the nurse said. It didn't take long; Sasuke judged it only an hour after he woke that he was deposited outside the operating room where the medics were working on Naruto.

Sasuke took one of the seats in the hallway and waited. Kakashi wasn't there; chakra exhaustion again? What about Sakura? Where was she? There was no one to ask his questions, so all he could do was wait and worry.

It was several hours later, well after nightfall, that the doors to the operating room opened, and three exhausted-looking medics came out. Sasuke stood instantly, shaking off his own tiredness. "Naruto," he demanded, "is he -"

"He'll be fine," one of the medics said shortly as they left, but neither she nor her comrades stopped to answer any more questions.

Fortunately, Naruto came out a few moments later, asleep on his cot. He was being pushed by someone Sasuke only vaguely recognized, a young woman in a dark kimono with a Leaf forehead protector worn around one arm. He searched his memory for her name. "Katou-san?" he asked.

The woman smiled. "Shizune-san is fine, Sasuke-kun," she said. "It's been a long time since I babysat you and Naruto-kun, but not that long."

Sasuke's cheeks heated briefly, but he forced the embarrassment aside. "Is Naruto -"

"Naruto is fine," Shizune said. "He'll wake up in the morning, almost as good as new." The woman smiled faintly. "Do you mind helping me push his cot?" she asked.

Sasuke obeyed, and they made good progress down the hallway. It was only when they were in an elevator that he remembered to ask, "What about Kakashi-sensei and Sakura?"

"Hatake-san is sleeping off of a case of aggravated chakra exhaustion," Shizune answered, "but he responded well to treatment." The elevator reached the third floor, and Sasuke helped Shizune maneuver the cot into the hallway.

"And Sakura?" he asked.

"I'm told Haruno-san is stable," Shizune answered after a moment. "I'm going to go check on her once we have Naruto in his room." Sasuke was about to ask what exactly was wrong with Sakura when Shizune stopped. "Here we are," she said cheerfully. "Get the door, please, Sasuke-kun."

A few minutes later, Naruto was settled. "There shouldn't be any problems," Shizune said, "but I imagine you'll want to stay with your friend. That's fine. I'll send a nurse by with some food for you, all right?"

Sasuke nodded, and before he could remember to ask after Sakura, Shizune was gone. Despite his worries, he found himself growing tired again as he sat beside Naruto's bed, and he was asleep before the nurse arrived.

When he awoke, the light filtering in through the window blinds meant it was dawn, and he and Naruto were no longer alone.

"Are you awake, Sasuke-kun?" the redheaded woman seated on the other side of Naruto's bed asked in a croaking voice.

Sasuke nodded, rubbing at his eyes. "Yes, Uzumaki-san," he said. Uzumaki Kushina smiled, and Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. He was never sure how to act around Naruto's mother.

"I'm glad you're all right," Kushina said. "Shizune-chan tells me Naruto should wake up soon. He'll have to stay here a day or two for observation, but he'll be fine."

"Good," Sasuke said. 

As if in response, Naruto rolled over in his bed and started to snore loudly. Kushina laughed. Sasuke found himself rolling his eyes. For the first time, he really could believe that Naruto was fine. 

"Did... Haruno-kun go home?" Kushina asked him after a few moments. "I had thought she and Naruto had become friends, despite..."

"I don't know," Sasuke said, realizing that he didn't. "The medic... Shizune-san, she told me Sakura was stable, and she went to check. Then I fell asleep."

"She was hurt?" Kushina asked.

She had been, but... "She healed," Sasuke said. "I think. But I don't think she woke up on the way back." He shook his head. "Naruto said you told him about... her bloodline limit."

"Yes," Kushina said.

"I... what is it?" Sasuke said. "What clan is it from? I've never seen anything like -"

"Sasuke-kun," Kushina said, sitting up straight in her wheelchair. "What happened?"

Sasuke told her, describing the ambush by the Cloud - which she already knew about - and how Sakura had fought them - which she didn't. Her face darkened as Sasuke finished the story, and he hesitated to press his questions about Sakura's power.

Before he could, the door opened, admitting a young nurse with a cart carrying three trays of food. "Breakfast," she announced cheerfully. "Good morning, Uzumaki-sama, Uchiha-san." Suddenly starving, Sasuke accepted the tray and ate while the nurse checked Naruto's vitals.

Naruto was doing very well, and should wake any minute, the nurse informed them, and then she left, leaving his breakfast by the bed. Kushina smiled faintly at Sasuke as she finished her own food. Then she glanced at Naruto and took a deep breath. "Naruto!" she almost shouted. "If you don't wake up, I'm going to eat your breakfast for you!"

Naruto sat up in bed instantly. "I'm up, mom!" he answered loudly. "I'm coming, I'm com..." He blinked several times. "Mom?" he asked hesitantly.

"Naruto," Kushina said softly. "Welcome back." She opened her arms, and Naruto shuffled over in the bed so she could embrace him.

Sasuke rose, setting his own mostly-empty tray aside and grabbing Naruto's. When Kushina released Naruto after kissing his forehead, Sasuke thrust the tray at him, "Here, idiot," he said roughly.

"Thanks, bastard," Naruto said. "I'm starving." Naruto ate quickly, and Sasuke just watched him, sitting back down. Kushina had grabbed the hand of her son's injured arm, part of him noted, and for a moment his own hands felt frozen. Sasuke forced himself to hit the button to call a nurse, and a few moments later the young woman who had brought breakfast returned. She left quickly, but came back just as soon with a doctor Sasuke didn't recognize.

It took about fifteen minutes for the man to finish checking Naruto over and warn him against any strenuous activity until his ribs and arm had finished healing. "Thanks, Yakushi-sensei," Naruto said when the man was finished. "You think I should stay here overnight?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, that would probably be best, and maybe until the day after tomorrow, just to be safe." He smiled, pushing up his glasses. "You're a much more cooperative patient than your mother."

Kushina pouted. "I'm right here, Yakushi-sensei."

"I know, Uzumaki-san," the doctor said with a smile, and then he left.

Kushina chuckled quietly, and then she gestured at Naruto again, pulling him into another hug. "I need to go check on Kakashi-kun," she said, "but I'll be back, all right, Naruto?"

"All right," Naruto said, and Kushina wheeled herself out of the room. Once she was gone, his face stilled. "Sasuke," he said. "Is everyone all right?"

Sasuke stood. "Yes," he said. Kakashi was asleep and Sakura... stable meant good, right?

"What... what happened?" Naruto said. "The last thing I remember is fighting that Kasumi girl, and you... I think Eimi had poisoned you." He paused. "I guess Kakashi-sensei got there in time to save us?"

Sasuke frowned. "No," he said shortly.

"Then you managed to fight them off?" Naruto asked. "That's pretty awe-"

"No, I didn't save us," Sasuke said, his fists clenching unthinkingly. Emotions he wasn't sure he wanted to name even if he could stirred in him, and he found himself staring at the windows. "Sakura did."

* * *

_"Everyone down!" Haruno Takeru roared as he finished charging the seal array on the scroll spread on the forest floor before him. His teammate Tsubaki dropped, followed an instant later by her two water replications and the dog transformed into a copy of Inuzuka Hana._

_"It won't work," Haku observed, retreating for a moment to the safety of his ice mirrors._

_Takeru pressed both hands to the center of the scroll in answer. "One Element Unseal: Fire!" With a loud hiss, a wave of fire erupted from the scroll, pushing out all around Takeru and over the heads of his teammates. Steam filled the inside of the dome as the flames collided with the dome of ice mirrors that imprisoned the Leaf. Breathing heavily, Takeru slumped over._

_"No," Tsubaki breathed._

_The steam cleared. The walls of ice gleamed slightly, melt-water glistening along them, but they seemed as solid as before Takeru's attack. With a snarl, the transformed dog leapt to her feet, charging the closest mirror, followed by one of Tsubaki's replications._

_"Futile," Haku said. In a blur of motion, he crossed the dome, disrupting the replication and knocking the dog to the ground as he passed. She rose in a whirling storm, which Haku didn't even try to intercept as she spun from mirror to mirror, bouncing off the frozen surfaces. The dog spun to a halt next to the Leaf genin. The mirrors were unmarred. "As I said," Haku stated, "fut-"_

_There was a loud shattering sound. First one, then another and another of the mirrors began to crack, dark lines spreading across them. Haku's image vanished from all but one of the mirrors as he stopped moving between them. "Impossible," he breathed. "You aren't strong enough to -"_

_As one, the mirrors broke, shards of ice clattering as they fell to the ground. Haku stumbled as he fell as well. "How -" he began._

_A Tsubaki was on him before he could finish, knocking him to the ground and shattering his Mist hunter ninja mask with a single powerful punch. Her sword darted for the boy's neck. Haku rose to a crouch, and spears of ice erupted from inside of the Tsubaki, turning her into nothing but water that drenched Haku's pink kimono. The boy got to his feet, his face grim. "I may now be forced to injure you," he announced, "to stop you from interfering in Zabuza-sama's battle."_

_"We're ninja, kid," Takeru said as he stood slowly, his hands locked into a seal. "That's a risk we're prepared to take." His body, and those of the two women beside him, dissolved into a swirl of dead leaves._

_"Genjutsu," Haku hissed, and then he chased the Leaf into the mists his master had summoned._

_Just inside them, Tsubaki told her teammates, "I'll keep him busy." She began to slow, falling behind._

_"Are you sure?" Takeru asked quickly._

_"In this mist, he can't see me," Tsubaki said, "but I can sure as hell feel his chakra. Go."_

_Without further words, Takeru and the transformed Haimaru brother raced off toward the sounds of battle. A loud roar echoed through the forest as they neared, but it was something else that made Takeru halt. "What's that foul smell?" he asked quietly._

_The dog by his side paused, then spoke with Inuzuka Hana's voice. "Piss. Marking."_

_"On Zabuza?" Takeru asked. The dog nodded. Takeru sniffed at the air, but shook his head. "I'm not good enough to use that as a target." He frowned, staring into the thick mists._

_The transformed dog growled interrogatively._

_"I think we're near the client's house, aren't we?" he asked. The dog shrugged. "Can you get Hana to drive Zabuza in this direction?"_

_The dog nodded once, and without words she vanished into the mists._

_Takeru knelt, unrolling another scroll and summoning a dozen kunai, explosive tags wrapped around the hilts. Working quickly, and trying to ignore the sounds of desperate battle all around, he threaded them with chakra wire, then attached that to a final seal tag. That tag, covered lightly by a handful of dirt, went in the center of a ring of steel, the kunai pointing at it all around. In good light, the trap would have been obvious even to a civilian. In the mist, it was a different story._

_Takeru backed away, hands working through the seals to activate his minor cloaking genjutsu before unrolling his final scroll of explosive kunai. He didn't have to wait long. Moments later, three furious howls rang out through the mist. It was only seconds after that Zabuza came out of the mist. He once more carried his weapon in his weaker hand; his stronger arm perhaps not fully healed from the damage Kabuto had done in their first battle._

_The infamous missing ninja froze as his foot brushed the chakra wire. The circle of kunai started to rise, but before they could Zabuza's massive blade struck out all around, severing the wire even as the man jumped out of the circle. Twelve explosive tags detonated, and Zabuza shielded himself from the worst of the blast with the his sword._

_Something came out of the mist at him, too large to be Hana or one of the dogs. Staggered by the blast, Zabuza couldn't dodge, but he still spun about, raising his blade up to hold off a massive, two-headed wolf. A hasty blow from the flat of his sword forced the monster back just a step, but that gave him time to move through a sequence of seals. A wave of water shoved the two-headed creature into a tree trunk, which broke under the weight. Barely slowed, the wolf kept going, disappearing into the mist._

_In that instant, Takeru struck, throwing another dozen blades at Zabuza's unprotected back in one smooth motion. His cloaking genjutsu broke almost instantly, and Takeru didn't wait to see if his blades struck home. He turned and ran in what he hoped was the direction of Tazuna's home. There was no time to look back, even when he heard detonations behind him._

_He made it farther than he'd feared he would, almost inside the perimeter of the traps he'd laid around the house, when something knocked him to the ground and he felt cold metal around his neck. "Not bad, for an old man genin, but not good enough to beat Haku," Zabuza said from above him. He gently moved his sword, brushing Takeru's skin with the sharp edge of the notch in his blade. "Where is he?"_

_The stench of urine from Zabuza was sickening, but more important was his heavy breathing and the barely noticeable tremor in the arm that held his sword. The missing ninja was tired. Whether he had indeed never fully recovered from the earlier battle or whether he had suffered new injuries in this one, he had weakened. That gave Takeru a hope he might survive._

_The Leaf genin reached out and pulled the tripwire that stretched out in front of his eyes. That loosed a trio of kunai at Zabuza, and the man raised his sword to block. Takeru took advantage of the momentary distraction, kicking back at the other man's leg before rolling off into the mists and scrambling to his feet._

_He ran, and moments later emerged from the mists within sight of the silent house of Tazuna the bridge-builder. Behind him, a solid gray wall shrouded the forest._

_"Clever, but annoying." Zabuza's voice seemed to come from everywhere, and Takeru threw himself to the side instants before the missing ninja's massive blade would have cut him in two. It still cut him, scoring a bloody trail of pain down his left leg. "You never answered my question, old man."_

_There was a loud growl, and the two-headed wolf came out of the mists, whirling in a giant tornado. Zabuza jumped away, and the wolf came to a halt, standing protectively over Takeru. Not far away, the dog transformed into Inuzuka Hana's form came out of the mists and started to circle around to Zabuza's other side._

_"The house," Takeru whispered quietly, hoping the missing ninja wouldn't hear. "Knock him into the house."_

_The monstrous wolf growled and spun into motion again, while the dog in Hana's form came at Zabuza from the other side. At full strength, the man would never have been hit. Tired and slow, he still managed to avoid the two-headed beast's first pass, then turned to let the dog pass by him and strike the transformed creature with his blade. That was when the two-headed wolf came back around, hitting Zabuza's side with tremendous force, knocking him into the air._

_He crashed into the front door of the house, but though the wood cracked it didn't break, and Zabuza managed to stay on his feet, sword rising. Takeru swore in frustration and fear._

_The transformed dog rebounded off of a tree and slammed into Zabuza, pushing both of them through the weakened door and into the house. "No," Takeru breathed._

_Two things happened at once. Zabuza's sword sliced through the transformed dog, causing a cloud of smoke and a spray of blood. In that same instant, a chakra-sensitive trigger under Zabuza's foot reacted to the missing ninja's chakra and detonated. He staggered, falling to one knee even as the still canine form of the Haimaru brother fell to the ground in front of him. Then the two adjacent tags exploded, the concussive forces battering the missing ninja from both directions._

_Zabuza threw himself into a roll, diving out of the doorway mere instants before the whole front of the house collapsed in a rapid sequence of detonations. Debris rained down, and as he stood Zabuza had to raise his sword to knock away one large hunk of the wall._

_That was when the two-headed wolf struck again, bodily slamming into him. A quick claw strike sent Zabuza's giant sword flying, while the man himself went another direction, skidding along the ground until he came to a stop mere feet from Takeru. The other man rolled to his feet instantly, ignoring the pain in his injured leg, a kunai in his hands. In one quick, reflexive motion, he struck out with the blade and sliced open Zabuza's neck._

_Momochi Zabuza, the feared Demon of the Hidden Mist, made a quiet gurgling sound, and then he died._

_A few more explosions sounded from inside what remained of the house, and then there was utter silence. The two-headed wolf vanished, replaced by Hana and one of her dogs. The woman almost collapsed. Takeru wanted to fall also, but instead he stood, staring down almost in disbelief at the bloody weapon in his hand and Zabuza's body._

_Behind him, the mist that shrouded the thin forest rapidly cleared. Kabuto, eyes closed and bleeding freely from numerous wounds but still alive, was revealed seated with his back to a tree trunk only a few paces into the woods, beside Hana's weakly breathing, final dog. As the final coils of fog lifted, Tsubaki could be seen perched in a surprisingly close tree. Haku stood beneath her, a pair of her water replications circling the boy._

_In an instant, the replications collapsed, ice jutting from their insides. Haku moved, racing out of the woods and into the lawn surrounding the ruins of Tazuna's house. His eyes inevitably found his master's corpse. The boy froze. "No," he breathed._

_From her position, Tsubaki spotted Takeru and the fallen Zabuza a moment later. "Sage's Balls," she swore. "We just killed one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."_

_Haku screamed, a primal cry of rage and fury. Hana staggered to her feet. Ice gathered in Haku's hands, the temperature of the air dropping rapidly. Takeru reached for a weapon and came up empty. Haku screamed again, and -_

_Something small and white thudded loudly against the boy's forehead. He staggered backward, the ice he had summoned falling harmlessly to the ground. A man in a Mist hunter ninja uniform appeared out of nowhere, one finger pointed at the boy. There was a tearing, ripping sound, and bones sprouted from his arm, growing at impossible speed to wrap around Haku tightly. The boy struggled for an instant, but then there was the sound of a flute playing, and he slumped over, his eyes rolling up in his head. The entire conflict had taken only seconds._

_The white-haired man gestured, and the bones fell off of his arm. He ignored the bloody gashes they left behind. "Confirm the kill," he snapped out._

_Takeru felt something move, and then a redheaded girl, also in a hunter ninja's uniform, stood between him and Zabuza. "Oh, he's fucking dead all right," she stated, pulling out a kunai and bending down._

_"Hey!" Takeru protested reflexively as the kunoichi started to saw through Zabuza's neck._

_"You losers aren't in any fucking position to argue with us," she answered. Her comrade made his way over to Haku and started to pry the bones loose._

_"She's right," Hana said tiredly, gesturing to Takeru to back away. "We're in no condition to fight another battle." She glanced toward the male hunter ninja. "Your assistance is appreciated," she told him. "Though it would have been more so earlier in the battle."_

_The man ignored the thinly veiled, bitter-sounding question as to why they had waited to intervene. "We will be taking the boy and Momochi-san's corpse," he announced. "They are the property of our village."_

_"We won't contest that," Hana said tiredly. The female hunter ninja finished severing Zabuza's head and pulled out a storage scroll._

_Tsubaki jumped down from her perch, giving Haku and the white-haired man a wide berth as she made her way to the rest of her team. "I don't like giving them the kid," she said softly._

_Takeru nodded, but all he said was, "We don't have a choice."_

_"I know," Tsubaki said sourly._

_The female hunter ninja made a seal. Zabuza's head vanished into the storage scroll, while the rest of the corpse erupted into green flame. When it died, not even ash remained. "Done and fucking done," she said in a satisfied voice, rolling up the storage scroll and standing. "Are we finished here or are we going to sit around and gossip for a while like idiot schoolgirls?"_

_Her male teammate sighed loudly. "Your team fought well, Inuzuka-san," he told Hana. "You should be proud of them." He picked up Haku's still body and rose. "Farewell," he said, and without even a cloud of smoke to hide the movement, the hunter ninja were gone._

_Adrenaline leaving him, Takeru sat down before his injured leg could give out underneath him._

_Tsubaki blinked several times, then she pointed toward a pile of rubble. "They left the sword," she said disbelievingly. Zabuza's weapon lay in plain sight atop the debris._

_"What?" Hana turned around and frowned. "Why would they -"_

_"I think... maybe..." Everyone looked up to see Kabuto, slowly hobbling over to them. In one hand he held his broken glasses. "They're rewarding us, but if they said anything about it-"_

_"It would mean acknowledging a legitimate transfer of ownership," Takeru finished, his voice dubious._

_Tsubaki laughed. "I wouldn't want to be explaining leaving something like that behind to the Mizukage when they could have just taken it."_

_"No," Hana said, frowning. "I don't think those were Mist."_

_Takeru swallowed. "How many jounin is this Gatou going to send against us?"_

_"If they were allied with Zabuza," Kabuto said slowly, "they could have just killed us at any time. Or not stopped Haku-san."_

_"A third party," Hana said weakly, shaking her head. "This mission is ridiculous."_

_Tsubaki broke the awkward silence, gesturing at Zabuza's weapon. "So, what do we do with the sword? It's Takeru's kill, right?"_

_The green-eyed man grimaced. "I couldn't have done it alone," he said, "and I don't use a sword."_

_"You're the only one of us who does, Tsubaki-san," Kabuto stated._

_The woman shook her head. "I use a wakizashi, not a giant crowbar."_

_"We'll take the blade, and let Hokage-sama decide," Hana said. She paused, then turned to Kabuto. "Kabuto-kun," she said, desperate hope clear in her voice, "is -"_

_Kabuto smiled. "I was able to stabilize him in time," he said. "He's just sleeping. You're a better veterinarian than me, I'm sure you'll get him back to full health in no time."_

_"Thank you," Hana said._

_Takeru swallowed. "But the other," he said, glancing toward the ruins of Tazuna's home._

_"I know," Hana said tightly, her fists clenched. "Kabuto, help Takeru. Tsubaki, help me... find..."_

_"Yes, sir," the other kunoichi said quickly. By the time Kabuto finished tending Takeru's leg, they had uncovered the dog from the rubble that buried it. There was nothing to be done; he had died instantly from Zabuza's sword._

_There was silence for several seconds, then the Haimaru brother who stood at Hana's side let out a mournful howl. He was joined a moment later by his mistress. The three genin bowed their heads respectfully._

_When they were done, Tsubaki asked. "So... now what?"_

_Hana took a deep breath. "First," she said, "I take a look at the brother Kabuto saved. Then we prepare my partner here for transport back to the village. And then we go retrieve the client, and tell him not to whine about his damned house and that it's safe to finish his damned bridge. As soon as that's done, we go home."_

* * *

Sakura lay on top of her cot in one of the hospital's secure underground rooms, curled up into a ball and facing away from the one-way mirror that filled one wall. Neither the young medic who had examined her - Shizune - nor the masked ANBU guards who brought her food had explained why she had been taken here, but Sakura knew the answer well enough. She had let the power of the Nine-Tails out. She wasn't safe; the seal was weakening. Would it be much longer before she was the Nine-Tails in truth?

It would be worth it, she told herself, if she'd saved Naruto and Sasuke. That was her sole, thin comfort. If she had saved them, then it would be worth it, to be locked away down here where she couldn't hurt anyone.

She wished the memories were blurry, but she remembered what she had become with perfect clarity. She remembered the burning, all-consuming rage. She remembered the power she had wielded, the ease with which she had defeated the Cloud, the terror in Eimi's voice as she'd surrendered. She remembered the sadness and fear in Kakashi's eyes as her teacher had pressed that seal tag to her stomach and everything had turned to darkness.

He'd promised her that Naruto and Sasuke would be all right first. She had to remember that. Her teammates - or was it former teammates now, a part of her wondered darkly - were fine. They had to be. They had to be, because if she had failed, if she had surrendered to the demon for nothing -

There was a pounding on the door, and the sound of indistinct yelling. Sakura froze in fear, nightmares of execution making the seal around her navel burn. She forced it down. Her own life wasn't worth it, not in the slightest.

The door flew open, and Uzumaki Kushina wheeled herself into the room. Behind her, a masked ANBU guard made a wordless protest, but beside him, Shizune gestured for him to back down, and the guard obeyed before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. "Kushina-sama -" the medic started, but Sakura had no thoughts to spare for the young woman.

Rage boiled inside of her, like it always did when she saw Naruto's mother, and Sakura's hands twitched. She didn't want to look at them, for fear she would see claws. Something dark at the back of her mind stirred, a reminder that this was the woman she hated more than anyone.

Yet something else warred with that anger, that kept Sakura frozen still. A fury that matched her own was clear on Kushina's face, and she could think of only one reason for that woman to be so angry with her. "N-naruto-kun," Sakura croaked, the first word she could remember speaking since she'd woken. He... he must have died, she realized. Her fault, for not stopping Kasumi, or worse, she might have injured him in her rage without noticing. "Is he -"

Kushina froze, and her face twisted into a worse snarl for one horrible instant. "They didn't even -" she began, and then she cut off, her face smoothing carefully. "Child," she said, "Naruto and Sasuke-kun are both well. Thanks to you." Sakura swallowed, blinking away tears she hadn't known she'd cried.

"I'm sorry, Haruno-kun," Shizune said quietly. "I didn't think... I thought you knew..."

The lifting of that terrifying fear left Sakura feeling empty. That familiar anger still burned into the back of her mind, but it was muffled by relief. "Then why... why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"I'm getting you out of here," Naruto's mother answered firmly.

Sakura blinked. "What?" was all she could say. Out of here? Why would she...

"You saved my son's life," Kushina said, and her voice cracked a little more than usual. "It's abhorrent for you to be treated like this." She rolled a little closer. "Get up. You're coming with me."

Sakura glared at the woman reflexively. "No," she stated. She didn't want to go anywhere with this woman.

Kushina's face fell. Shizune stepped into the room. "Kushina-sama," she said, "we should -"

There was a light cough, and both women turned to the door. Sakura froze in renewed fear. "Kushina-chan, Kushina-chan," the Third Hokage said. "Whatever am I supposed to do about this?"

"You let her go home, now," Kushina growled.

"I'm afraid that's not an option," the Hokage said. "By Kakashi-kun's report, she's drawn on the power of the Nine-Tails. She can't-"

Sakura shrank back against the wall. "Please," she said, the pleading word escaping her lips without conscious thought. "I... I only let it out to save Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun. I won't let it -"

"Sakura-kun," the Hokage interrupted her firmly. "You've done nothing wrong, and I have no intention of you staying here a moment longer than necessary."

"I... what?" Sakura said.

"Why is she here at all?" Kushina demanded. "You know as well as I do that -"

"No I don't," the Hokage stated. "I'm not a master of your clan's seals, Kushina-chan. I can't possibly allow her to go home until a competent seal master has kept watch on the seal for any unexpected fluctuations for at least twenty-four hours." He sighed. "I'll send word for Jiraiya-kun, but you know that -"

"Hiruzen, you utter bastard." Kushina started to cough roughly.

The Hokage just nodded.

"Fine," Kushina spat. "You win, damn it. I'll do it, but not here. She gets to go home."

"Agreed." The Hokage nodded firmly. "Shizune-chan, if you could make the -"

"No," Sakura said. Everyone turned to her, and she had to fight the urge to shrink away. "I'm not going to go anywhere with... her." She let her hatred, rising again, show in that final word. It would be so easy, a part of her thought, to let it loose, to call up that red chakra.

She couldn't. This woman that she hated was also her friend's mother. She'd already killed... no, the thing inside of her had already killed Naruto's father. She couldn't let it kill his mother also.

"Child," Kushina said. She coughed once. "Please. You hate me, and I deserve it, more than even you know. I understand, and I know that nothing I could do could repay even the slightest fraction of what I've done to you, but please, let me do this for you, at least."

"Why?" Sakura wasn't sure which question she was asking. Why had Kushina killed her mother? Why should she let Kushina help her? Why did Kushina want to help?

It was the last question Kushina answered. "Because I owe you," she said. "And I owe Amaya. And it's what Mina- the Fourth Hokage would have wanted me to do."

Sakura froze for an instant, a memory coming to mind that made her eyes widen in realization and shock, words that she had heard in the vision of the past the Nine-Tails had shown her: "But I know... I hope... Naruto... and Kushina will be there for you." And... the Hokage had implied that the seal that bound the demon in Sakura was from Kushina's clan. And Naruto had said his father had died fighting the Nine-Tails...

"Naruto's father," Sakura said tonelessly. "Your... husband. He was the Fourth Hokage."

It was Kushina's turn to freeze. "Yes," she said quietly. "He was." She swallowed loudly. "The Nine-Tails... Sakura... I..." She trailed off.

"Kushina-chan?" the Hokage asked softly.

Kushina coughed several times, then looked away. "The seal is my design," she finished weakly.

"Kushina-chan," the Hokage said again, something Sakura couldn't read in his voice.

"I'm not asking for your forgiveness," Kushina said. "I don't deserve that. You don't have to say a word to me if you don't want. Just... let me do this, please. For... for your father's sake, if nothing else. He... when he returns, I'd like for you to be home. Not here."

That thought was enough to make Sakura slowly, hesitatingly, nod.

* * *

It was a testament to how weary he was on the night he returned from Wave Country that, when he opened the front door of his house to find Uzumaki Kushina in his sitting room, flipping through his daughter's copy of The Gutsy Shinobi Returns, Haruno Takeru just froze for a moment. Then he stalked over to his favorite armchair, collapsed into it, and rubbed at his eyes. "I am absolutely certain," he said tiredly, "that there is a very good explanation for this."

Kushina closed the book and set it down on the end table she'd positioned her wheelchair next to. "I'm sorry, Takeru," she said quietly. "Hokage-sama didn't leave me any choice but to break my promise this much more."

Takeru took a deep breath. "What happened?"

"On her mission, Sakura-kun... was forced to use the power of the Nine-Tails. She saved Naruto's life. And Sasuke-kun's."

Takeru swallowed once. "Is she -"

"She's not hurt," Kushina reassured him. "She's asleep upstairs right now, but Hokage-sama wouldn't let her go home unless... a competent seal master was there to keep watch for twenty-four hours."

Takeru swore. "That old -"

"I agree." Kushina sighed. "I'm not so sure he isn't right anymore, though."

"Kushina -"

"The twenty-four hours were up earlier this evening," Kushina stated. "I know I have no right, but I didn't want her to be alone." Her hands went to the wheels of her chair. "I'll let myself out now," she said, "but..." She shuddered once. "I think... later, we need to talk about my promise. Sakura... I'm the only one who can -"

There were quiet footsteps coming down the stairs, and Takeru stood quickly as Sakura walked into the room, dressed in her pajamas. "...Father?" she said quietly.

Takeru took a step forward. "Sakura."

Sakura almost stumbled, breaking into a run until she nearly slammed into her father, embracing him. "Daddy," she sobbed, burying her face in his chest. "I... I..." She clearly couldn't finish.

Takeru moved his own arms around her, enclosing her in a tight embrace. "I'm here, Sakura," he whispered softly, one hand gently running through her hair. "I'm here." 

She just kept sobbing wordlessly, uncontrollably.

Takeru looked up at Kushina, and let his exhaustion and a thorny shoot of gratitude smother the old, familiar hatred just this once. "Kushina," he said. "It's late, it's a long way from here to your home, and there's no one to help you with the trip." He hesitated, but pressed on. "Stay the night, as I'm sure you were planning. In the morning, I'll help you home on my way to the Tower for my formal debrief."

Kushina stared at him for a long moment, then nodded once before wheeling herself into the kitchen, giving Takeru and Sakura the illusion of privacy.

* * *

_Tetsu woke free of pain, though with his prosthetic arm missing, tied to a chair in the center of a dark room. Reflexively, he tested the metal-braided rope, but was only rewarded by a slight shock. Lightning-sealed cord, he knew from long experience, and the shock would intensify if he pressed harder against his bonds. There were a dozen ways he could still have escaped, but his sluggish chakra failed to obey his commands._

_He wasn't foolish, and he knew well how to interpret the blur of confusing images that was all he remembered since his battle against the bizarrely powerful pink-haired student of Kakashi's. He was a prisoner, who had been interrogated repeatedly, thoroughly if not harshly. The only question was who held him - the Leaf, or his own village. The choice of restraint was typical of the Cloud, but the Leaf knew that well enough._

_There was the sound of a door opening - though no light pierced the darkness - and the sound of someone entering. Tetsu listened closely, determining quickly that he was at least intended to think that his visitor was an adult kunoichi. Then she spoke, and that familiar voice answered the question of whose prisoner he was, for Tetsu doubted that any Leaf had heard it and survived._

_"Tetsu," the woman said. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Since the Chuunin Exams when Eimi-chan was promoted."_

_"Yes," Tetsu answered. "Why am I being held this way?"_

_"You know why," the woman said harshly. "And that shouldn't have been your first question."_

_Tetsu swallowed once. "My team," he said._

_"Yes. Ogushi Eimi suffered only minor wounds. Tenrai Kasumi is expected to make a full recovery over the next months." An ominous pressure filled the air, making it hard for Tetsu to breath._

_"And Hikaru-kun?" Tetsu asked, fearing the answer._

_Golden, feline eyes glowed in the darkness, glaring at Tetsu. "My brother," Nii Yugito stated, "has yet to waken. The medics don't know if he will ever wake, and it may be kinder if he doesn't. I'm told his legs are a lost cause, and its questionable how much motion he'll regain anywhere else."_

_"I'm sorry," was all Tetsu could say._

_Yugito drew close, until she stood directly in front of Tetsu's chair, though he still could see nothing but her yellow eyes. "You're not sorry yet, Tetsu," she hissed. "In light of this disaster, Raikage-sama has decided to give you - and your team - to me."_

_"Eimi and Kasumi were only following my orders," Tetsu said. He'd served them poorly enough, but he could at least do this much. "They don't deserve -"_

_Tendrils of blue fire burned around Yugito, breaking the darkness and casting odd shadows across the - otherwise empty - interrogation chamber. "I'm not an idiot, Tetsu," she snarled. "I'll be taking over as their teacher."_

_"And I?"_

_Yugito smiled mirthlessly. "We'll play," she said, "until I am satisfied and give your head to Raikage-sama to send to Leaf in restitution for your flagrant violation of the truce between our villages."_

_She leaned forward, and a clawed hand brushed against Tetsu's throat. "But first... I've read the interrogation reports, but I want to hear from your lips everything you know about Haruno Sakura."_

* * *

_Haku opened his eyes, and found he was lying atop a cot in a small, windowless room, lit by a pair of flickering electric lights. There was no decoration on the rough stone walls, and other than a single chair there was nothing else in the room but medical monitors, attached by wires to leads scattered about his body._

_Haku disconnected them without a second thought and sat up. Where was he? It made no sense for him to wake, unguarded, unrestrained and - as a moment's test showed - with his chakra unbound. His captors were ludicrously overconfident, enough that he hesitated to try to escape. Zabuza had taught him -_

_Despair and black anger swamped him. He had failed, in the worst possible way. The man he had spared had killed his master. He hadn't even been able to avenge Zabuza's death. What a useless tool he had proved in the end._

_The room's lone door opened, admitting a white-haired man Haku knew was one of the pair who had captured him, even though he had abandoned the uniform of a Mist hunter ninja. "Good afternoon, Yuki-san," he said, quietly and calmly. "I am pleased to see you awake."_

_Haku forced himself to calmness. "Your abilities," he said. "You are of the Kaguya Clan?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Then you are no Mist ninja."_

_"Yes."_

_"Who are you, then? Where are we? Why did you take me?"_

_"I am Kimimaro," the man answered. "This is the Hidden Village of the Sound. My master will explain our purpose shortly, when he arrives." He seated himself in the lone chair. "It will be only a few moments."_

_"And if I choose to leave instead?" Haku asked, raising his hand. His chakra responded eagerly to his will, ice growing in his palm._

_A man laughed. There was a sensation of power that made Haku freeze, a strength that made Zabuza seem like a weakling child. He hadn't even noticed the dark-haired man enter the room, but now his presence seemed to fill it. Inhuman, serpentine eyes measured Haku, and the boy found himself letting the ice drop._

_"Who are you?" he asked weakly._

_"I am the one," the man said, "who will give you the power and opportunity to avenge your former master in the grandest way possible."_

_"What do you mean?" Haku asked warily._

_The man smiled. "If you choose to become my weapon," he said, "we will kill the Hidden Village of the Leaf's Third Hokage while that village is destroyed around him."_

_"A small, new village like the Sound wouldn't stand a chance," Haku said automatically._

_The man just laughed._

_"Who are you?" Haku asked again._

_"My name is Orochimaru." Haku swallowed painfully, and the man smiled again. "Perhaps you have heard of me."_

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) The urge to slip another chapter into the outline somewhere so this could be "Chapter Nine: Tails" was overwhelming.
> 
> 2) Although I don't plan on any formal division, I have always considered this point to be the end of "Book One" of the story.
> 
> 3) As always, my thanks go out to everyone at all the usual places who commented on the drafts of this chapter. To a greater extent than usual, even, since they stopped me from making some serious missteps.
> 
> 4) The next chapter of this story may be somewhat delayed, as I plan to spend some time working on the beginning of another story that's been in the works for some time, which I kind of view as a sister story to this one. It's tentatively entitled "Tree of Life," and if you like Dead Garden I hope you'll keep an eye out for it.
> 
> Draft Started: September 18, 2012  
> Draft Finished: November 05, 2012  
> Draft Released: November 08, 2012  
> Final Released: November 13, 2012


End file.
